The long-term objective of this research is to elucidate the neurochemical circuitry within the vertebrate retina. Attention will be given to the localization of glutamate receptor molecules at defined synaptic sites with the goal of understanding of how these receptors contribute to the vital task of information processing within the retina. Pre-embedding and post-embedding immunocytochemical techniques will be used to visualize subunits of ionotropic receptors (AMPA-, KA-, and NMDA-selective classes) as well as the metabotropic glutamate receptors in the cat retina. Double-labeling methods will be used to determine the association of subunits within a receptor class and the positioning of receptor classes at synaptic contacts. Co-localizations of subunits from within a receptor class will provide an indication of possible heteromeric assembly at the labeled sites and the positioning of receptors at the synapse has important implications regarding the availability of glutamate for their activation. Other experiments will utilize intracellular filling of individual bipolar and ganglion cells in combination with receptor immunocytochemistry to characterize the sets of glutamate receptor molecules that mediate specific cell to cell contacts. These studies will test the hypothesis that each subpopulation of bipolar cell maintains its specificity within the inner plexiform layer by contacting a unique set of receptors on its target cells and the corollary, that ganglion cells distinguish among inputs from multiple types of bipolar cells on the basis of differences in receptor content at the post-synaptic sites.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Eye Institute (NEI)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
2R01EY002267-22
Application #
6326333
Study Section
Visual Sciences C Study Section (VISC)
Program Officer
Hunter, Chyren
Project Start
1978-12-01
Project End
2004-03-31
Budget Start
2001-04-01
Budget End
2002-03-31
Support Year
22
Fiscal Year
2001
Total Cost
$290,111
Indirect Cost
Name
Wayne State University
Department
Anatomy/Cell Biology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
City
Detroit
State
MI
Country
United States
Zip Code
48202
Fyk-Kolodziej, Bozena; Pourcho, Roberta G (2007) Differential distribution of hyperpolarization-activated and cyclic nucleotide-gated channels in cone bipolar cells of the rat retina. J Comp Neurol 501:891-903
Fyk-Kolodziej, Bozena; Dzhagaryan, Arturik; Qin, Pu et al. (2004) Immunocytochemical localization of three vesicular glutamate transporters in the cat retina. J Comp Neurol 475:518-30
Fyk-Kolodziej, Bozena; Qin, Pu; Dzhagaryan, Arturik et al. (2004) Differential cellular and subcellular distribution of glutamate transporters in the cat retina. Vis Neurosci 21:551-65
Fyk-Kolodziej, Bozena; Qin, Pu; Pourcho, Roberta G (2003) Identification of a cone bipolar cell in cat retina which has input from both rod and cone photoreceptors. J Comp Neurol 464:104-13
Winkler, Barry S; Pourcho, Roberta G; Starnes, Catherine et al. (2003) Metabolic mapping in mammalian retina: a biochemical and 3H-2-deoxyglucose autoradiographic study. Exp Eye Res 77:327-37
Pourcho, Roberta G; Qin, Pu; Goebel, Dennis J et al. (2002) Agonist-stimulated cobalt uptake provides selective visualization of neurons expressing AMPA- or kainate-type glutamate receptors in the retina. J Comp Neurol 454:341-9
Fyk-Kolodziej, Bozena; Cai, Wenhui; Pourcho, Roberta G (2002) Distribution of protein kinase C isoforms in the cat retina. Vis Neurosci 19:549-62
Qin, P; Pourcho, R G (2001) Immunocytochemical localization of kainate-selective glutamate receptor subunits GluR5, GluR6, and GluR7 in the cat retina. Brain Res 890:211-21
Pourcho, R G; Qin, P; Goebel, D J (2001) Cellular and subcellular distribution of NMDA receptor subunit NR2B in the retina. J Comp Neurol 433:75-85
Cai, W; Pourcho, R G (1999) Localization of metabotropic glutamate receptors mGluR1alpha and mGluR2/3 in the cat retina. J Comp Neurol 407:427-37

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