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First published online on November 25, 2004.
Copyright © 2004 by The Physiological Society
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Received October 3, 2004
Revised October 28, 2004
Accepted after revision November 23, 2004

IDENTIFICATION OF ON-OFF DIRECTION-SELECTIVE GANGLION CELLS IN THE MOUSE RETINA

Shijun Weng1, Wenzhi Sun1, and Shigang He2*

1 Institute of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences
2 Chinese Academy of Sciences

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: s.he{at}ion.ac.cn.

We identified the ON-OFF direction selective ganglion cells (DSGCs) in the mouse retina and characterized their physiological, morphological and pharmacological properties. These cells showed transient responses to the onset and termination of a stationary flashing spot, and strong directional selectivity to a moving rectangle. Application of various pharmacological reagents demonstrated that the ON-OFF DSGCs in the mouse retina utilize a similar array of transmitters and receptors to compute motion direction to their counterparts in the rabbit retina. Voltage clamp recording showed that ON-OFF DSGCs in the mouse retina receive a larger inhibitory input when the stimulus is moving in the null direction and a larger excitatory input when the stimulus is moving in the preferred direction. Finally, intracellular infusion of Neurobiotin revealed a bistratified dendritic field with recursive dendrites forming loop-like structures, previously classified as RGD2 by morphology. Overall, the ON-OFF DSGCs in the mouse retina exhibit almost identical properties to their counterparts in the rabbit retina, indicating that the mechanisms for computing motion direction are conserved from mouse to rabbit, and likely also to higher mammals. This first detailed characterization of ON-OFF DSGCs in the mouse retina provides fundamental information for further study of maturation and regulation of the neuronal circuitry underlying computation of direction.


Key words: Mouse • Retinal ganglion cell • Synaptic integration




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W. Sun, Q. Deng, W. R. Levick, and S. He
ON direction-selective ganglion cells in the mouse retina
J. Physiol., October 1, 2006; 576(1): 197 - 202.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]




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