Knowledge of the transmitters and receptors present in the vertebrate retina is essential to attempts to understand retinal function. Acetylcholine (ACh) is known to be a neurotransmitter in the vertebrate retina and much is known about the distribution and morphology of the cholinergic amacrine cells, the release of ACh, and the effects of ACh on some types of ganglion cells. Previous studies of the cholinoceptive cells have relied upon alpha-bungarotoxin. Recent studies have shown, however, that this toxin recognizes a protein which is separate from the ACh receptor. Thus, the pattern of toxin binding can no longer be considered to represent the ACh receptor distribution. The overall objectives of the proposed research are to identify and characterize the cholinoceptive neurons in the retina, elucidate their development, and to understand their relationship to the cholinergic presyaptic cells.
The specific aims and the methods to achieve them follow. 1) Cells containing ACh receptors will be identified and characterized by using monoclonal antibodies directed against the ACh receptors. This technique will reveal their numbers and distribution, and their dendritic branching pattern in both the developing and adult retina. 2) The cholinoceptive ganglion cells that project to specific central retinorecipient nuclei will be characterized using a combination of immunohistochemistry and the injection of retrogradely transported markers into specific retinorecipient nuclei. 3) The size, shape and laminar pattern of cholinoceptive neurons' dendritic fields will be determined by a combination of intracellular filling of single neurons and immunohistochemistry. The dendritic patterns as revealed by the dye injection will be compared to that seen with immunohistochemistry. 4) The numbers of cells and dendritic branching pattern of the cholinoceptive cells will be compared to those of the cholinergic neurons using immunohistochemical methods. In addition, studies of the development of the cholinergic cells relative to that of the cholinoceptive cells will be studied in the same way.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Eye Institute (NEI)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01EY007845-02
Application #
3264928
Study Section
Visual Sciences A Study Section (VISA)
Project Start
1988-12-01
Project End
1991-11-30
Budget Start
1989-12-01
Budget End
1990-11-30
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
1990
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of California San Diego
Department
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
077758407
City
La Jolla
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
92093
Strang, Christianne E; Long, Ye; Gavrikov, Konstantin E et al. (2015) Nicotinic and muscarinic acetylcholine receptors shape ganglion cell response properties. J Neurophysiol 113:203-17
Varghese, Stefanie B; Reid, Jamie C; Hartmann, E Eugenie et al. (2011) The effects of nicotine on the human electroretinogram. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 52:9445-51
Strang, Christianne E; Renna, Jordan M; Amthor, Franklin R et al. (2010) Muscarinic acetylcholine receptor localization and activation effects on ganglion response properties. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 51:2778-89
Liu, Ji; McGlinn, Alice M; Fernandes, Alcides et al. (2009) Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunits in rhesus monkey retina. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 50:1408-15
Cimini, Beth A; Strang, Christianne E; Wotring, Virginia E et al. (2008) Role of acetylcholine in nitric oxide production in the salamander retina. J Comp Neurol 507:1952-63
Dmitrieva, Nina A; Strang, Christianne E; Keyser, Kent T (2007) Expression of alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors by bipolar, amacrine, and ganglion cells of the rabbit retina. J Histochem Cytochem 55:461-76
Siegwart Jr, John Thomas; Strang, Christianne E (2007) Selective modulation of scleral proteoglycan mRNA levels during minus lens compensation and recovery. Mol Vis 13:1878-86
Dmitriev, Andrey V; Dmitrieva, Nina A; Keyser, Kent T et al. (2007) Multiple functions of cation-chloride cotransporters in the fish retina. Vis Neurosci 24:635-45
Strang, Christianne E; Renna, Jordan M; Amthor, Franklin R et al. (2007) Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor expression by directionally selective ganglion cells. Vis Neurosci 24:523-33
Renna, J M; Strang, C E; Amthor, F R et al. (2007) Strychnine, but not PMBA, inhibits neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors expressed by rabbit retinal ganglion cells. Vis Neurosci 24:503-11

Showing the most recent 10 out of 39 publications