Fluctuations in retinal bipolar cell responses to dim light flashes [proceedings].
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The retinal bipolar cell receiving glutamate transmission from photoreceptors mediates a key process in segregating visual signals into ON center and OFF center pathways. This transmission involves a G protein-coupled metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR). Immunocytochemical and immunoelectron microscopic studies indicate that restricted localization of a specific mGluR subtype, mGluR6, at the postsynaptic site of the rat rod bipolar cell. This specialization is developmentally regulated: mGluR6 is initially distributed in both the soma and dendrites and is finally concentrated on the postsynaptic site. The mGluR6 localization is reversed when photoreceptors degenerate in the mutant rat with retinal dystrophy. Evidence is thus presented indicating specialized, developmentally regulated receptor distribution in the central nervous system and the crucial role of mGluR6 in photoreceptor-bipolar cell synaptic transmission.
Retinal bipolar cells are essential to the transmission of light information. Although bipolar cell dysfunction can result in blindness, little is known about the factors required for bipolar cell development and functional maturation. The basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor Bhlhb4 was found to be expressed in rod bipolar cells (RB). Electroretinograms (ERGs) in the adult Bhlhb4 knockout (Bhlhb4(-/-)) showed that the loss of Bhlhb4 resulted in disrupted rod signaling and profound retinal dysfunction resembling human congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB), characterized by the loss of the scotopic ERG b-wave. A depletion of inner nuclear layer (INL) cells in the adult Bhlhb4 knockout has been ascribed to the abolishment of the RB cell population during postnatal development. Other retinal cell populations including photoreceptors were unaltered. The timing of RB cell depletion in the Bhlhb4(-/-) mouse suggests that Bhlhb4 is essential for RB cell maturation.
GABAergic modulation of retinal bipolar cells plays a crucial role in early visual processing. It helps to form centre-surround receptive fields which filter the visual signal spatially at the bipolar cell dendrites in the outer retina, and it produces temporal filtering at the bipolar cell synaptic terminals in the inner retina. The observed chloride transporter distribution in ON bipolar cells has been predicted to produce an intracellular chloride concentration, [Cl(-)](i), that is significantly higher in the dendrites than in the synaptic terminals. This would allow dendritic GABA-gated Cl(-) channels to generate the depolarization needed for forming the lateral inhibitory surround of the cell's receptive field, while synaptic terminal GABA-gated Cl(-) channels generate the hyperpolarization needed for temporal shaping of the light response. In contrast to this idea, we show here that in ON bipolar cells [Cl(-)](i) is only slightly higher in the dendrites than in the synaptic terminals, and that GABA-gated channels in the dendrites may generate a hyperpolarization rather than a depolarization. We also show that [Cl(-)](i) is controlled by movement of Cl(-) through ion channels in addition to transporters, that changes of [K(+)](o) alter [Cl(-)](i) and that voltage-dependent equilibration of [Cl(-)](i) in bipolar cells will produce a time-dependent adaptation of GABAergic modulation with a time constant of 8 s after illumination-evoked changes of membrane potential. Time-dependent adaptation of [Cl(-)](i) to voltage changes in retinal bipolar cells may add a previously unsuspected layer of temporal processing to signals as they pass through the retina.
Photoreceptors and retinal bipolar cells are considered as nonspiking neurons; however, we recently showed that human rod photoreceptors can generate sodium action potentials in response to membrane depolarization from membrane potentials of -60 or -70 mV (Kawai et al., Neuron 30 [2001] 451). We performed patch-clamp recording of human cone photoreceptors and retinal bipolar cells to examine whether functional voltage-gated sodium channels are expressed in these cells as well as rod photoreceptors. Under current-clamp conditions, the injection of depolarizing current steps into a cone photoreceptor-induced marked action potentials. These action potentials were blocked by 1 microM tetrodotoxin, a voltage-gated sodium channel blocker. Under voltage-clamp conditions, depolarizing voltage steps-induced a fast transient inward current in several bipolar cells (n = 4/78). This current was activated from -70 to + 20 mV (maximal at -10 mV) and inactivated within 5 ms. The 10-90% rise time of this current was shorter than another inward current (less than one-hundredth). These results indicate that human cones and bipolar cells express voltage-gated sodium channels as rod photoreceptors. Sodium channels may serve to amplify the release of a neurotransmitter and to accelerate the light-dark change in photosignals.
Voltage-dependent Na(+) channels are usually expressed in neurons that use spikes as a means of signal coding. Retinal bipolar cells are commonly thought to be nonspiking neurons, a category of neurons in the CNS that uses graded potential for signal transmission. Here we report for the first time voltage-dependent Na(+) currents in acutely isolated mammalian retinal bipolar cells with whole cell patch-clamp recordings. Na(+) currents were observed in approximately 45% of recorded cone bipolar cells but not in rod bipolar cells. Both ON and OFF cone bipolar cells were found to express Na(+) channels. The Na(+) currents were activated at membrane potentials around -50 to -40 mV and reached their peak around -20 to 0 mV. The half-maximal activation and steady-state inactivation potentials were -24.7 and -68.0 mV, respectively. The time course of recovery from inactivation could be fitted by two time constants of 6.2 and 81 ms. The amplitude of the Na(+) currents ranged from a few to >300 pA with the current density in some cells close or comparable to that of retinal third neurons. In current-clamp recordings, Na(+)-dependent action potentials were evoked in Na(+)-current-bearing bipolar cells by current injections. These findings raise the possibility that voltage-dependent Na(+) currents may play a role in bipolar cell function.
Rod bipolar cells relay visual signals evoked by dim illumination from the outer to the inner retina. GABAergic and glycinergic amacrine cells contact rod bipolar cell terminals, where they modulate transmitter release and contribute to the receptive field properties of third order neurones. However, it is not known how these distinct inhibitory inputs affect rod bipolar cell output and subsequent retinal processing. To determine whether GABA(A), GABA(C) and glycine receptors made different contributions to light-evoked inhibition, we recorded light-evoked inhibitory postsynaptic currents (L-IPSCs) from rod bipolar cells mediated by each pharmacologically isolated receptor. All three receptors contributed to L-IPSCs, but their relative roles differed; GABA(C) receptors transferred significantly more charge than GABA(A) and glycine receptors. We determined how these distinct inhibitory inputs affected rod bipolar cell output by recording light-evoked excitatory postsynaptic currents (L-EPSCs) from postsynaptic AII and A17 amacrine cells. Consistent with their relative contributions to L-IPSCs, GABA(C) receptor activation most effectively reduced the L-EPSCs, while glycine and GABA(A) receptor activation reduced the L-EPSCs to a lesser extent. We also found that GABAergic L-IPSCs in rod bipolar cells were limited by GABA(A) receptor-mediated inhibition between amacrine cells. We show that GABA(A), GABA(C) and glycine receptors mediate functionally distinct inhibition to rod bipolar cells, which differentially modulated light-evoked rod bipolar cell output. Our findings suggest that modulating the relative proportions of these inhibitory inputs could change the characteristics of rod bipolar cell output.
Retinal bipolar cells are known to form a complex, interconnecting network through electrical synapses that are either heterologous (with amacrine cells) or homologous (with other bipolar cells). These electrical synapses can be functionally as important as chemical synapses because their distinct properties provide a different character for the network. Much less is known, however, about electrical synapses in retinal bipolar cells than about chemical synapses. Here we report the molecular basis for electrical synapses in retinal bipolar cells, particularly ON cone bipolar cells. We have found variable connexin 36 (cx36) expression in different types of ON cone bipolar cells: cx36 message was found in some, but not all, ON cone bipolar cells (4 of 14 cells). In one specific type of ON cone bipolar cell (BPGus-GFP), however, cx36 was detected in 17 of 19 cells. Moreover, we have located cx36 puncta at the axonal terminals of BPGus-GFP cells, and we have found that these BPGus-GFP-associated cx36 puncta always colocalized with AII amacrine cell processes. Molecular and immunocytochemical evidence obtained in this study also shows that connexin 45 (cx45) is not present in BPGus-GFP cells. Taken together, our results suggest that connexins are expressed in bipolar cells in a neuronal subtype-specific manner and that cx36/cx36 gap junctions form the heterologous electrical synapses between AII amacrine cells and BPGus-GFP cells. Our findings imply that visual information can be differently processed by distinct subtypes of ON cone bipolar cells via electrical synapses.
1. This investigation was to determine the extent to which retinal 'on' bipolar cells contribute to the adaptive changes that occur with light, which enable the rod visual system to operate over a wide range of ambient light intensities, and to elucidate the underlying adaptive mechanism. 2. Whole-cell voltage clamp recordings were obtained from bipolar cells in dark-adapted dogfish retinal slices. Current responses to brief flashes and steps of light were analysed. 'On' bipolar cell inward current light responses are mediated by a metabotropic glutamate receptor linked to the control of a cGMP cascade, with cGMP opening cation channels. Outward current responses to light of 'off' bipolar cells are mediated by the closure of ionotropic glutamate receptor channels. 3. When Ca2+ buffer was omitted from the patch pipette solution, 'on' bipolar cells rapidly desensitized to steps of light as dim as one rhodopsin molecule bleached per rod per second (1 Rh* s-1), whereas 'off' bipolar cells did not desensitize. Responses of 'on' bipolar cells to flashes in the presence of dim backgrounds recovered after a delay, but with diminished sensitivity, i.e. the cells adapted. 4. With the Ca2+ chelator BAPTA in the patch pipette solution, step responses of 'on' bipolar cells were sustained and flash responses following steps showed rapid recovery. Buffering Ca2+ in the patch pipette solution to 1 microM prevented desensitization, whereas 50 microM free Ca2+ reduced the 'on' bipolar cell flash responses, suppressed inward dark current and decreased input conductance. 5. We conclude that a major component of adaptation of the visual system is due to a reduction in gain at the rod-'on' bipolar cell synapse as a result of Ca2+ loading of the dendrites when their cGMP-gated cation channels open with light.
PURPOSE: To examine the biochemical properties, cell expression, and localization of RS1, the product of the gene responsible for X-linked juvenile retinoschisis. METHODS: Rs1h mRNA expression was measured from the eyes of wild-type and rd/rd mice by Northern blot analysis and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Specific antibodies raised against the N terminus of RS1 were used as probes to examine the properties and distribution of RS1 in retina, retinal cell cultures, and transfected COS-1 cells by Western blot analysis and immunofluorescence microscopy. RESULTS: Rs1h mRNA expression was detected in the retina of postnatal day (P)11 and adult CD1 mice, but not homozygous rd/rd mice by Northern blot analysis. However, Rs1h expression was detected in rd/rd mice by RT-PCR. RS1 migrated as a single 24-kDa polypeptide under disulfide-reducing conditions and a larger complex (>95 kDa) under nonreducing conditions in the membrane fraction of retinal tissue homogenates and transfected COS-1 cells. RS1 antibodies specifically stained rod and cone photoreceptors and most bipolar cells, but not Müller cells, ganglion cells, or the inner limiting membrane of adult and developing retina as revealed in double-labeling studies. RS1 antibodies also labeled retinal bipolar cells of photoreceptorless mice and retinal bipolar cells grown in cell culture. CONCLUSIONS: RS1 is expressed and assembled in photoreceptors of the outer retina and bipolar cells of the inner retina as a disulfide-linked oligomeric protein complex. The secreted complex associates with the surface of these cells, where it may function as a cell adhesion protein to maintain the integrity of the central and peripheral retina.
We investigated the expression of Ggamma13, a recently discovered G protein subunit, and a selection of Gbeta subunits in retinal bipolar cells, by using a transgenic mouse strain in which green fluorescent protein is strongly expressed in a single type of cone bipolar cell. The cells have ON morphology, and patch-clamp recordings in slices confirmed that they are of the physiological ON type. Immunohistochemistry showed that Ggamma13 is expressed in rod bipolar cells and ON cone bipolar cells, where it is colocalized in the dendrites with Galphaomicron. ON and OFF cone bipolar cells and rod bipolar cells were identified among dissociated cells by their green fluorescence and/or distinct morphology. Hybridization of single-cell polymerase chain reaction products with cDNA probes for G protein subunits Gbeta1 to 5 showed that Gbeta3, Gbeta4, and Ggamma13 are coexpressed in ON bipolar cells but not present in OFF bipolar cells. Gbeta1, 2, and 5 are expressed in partially overlapping subpopulations of cone bipolar cells. Ggamma13 and Gbeta3 and/or Gbeta4, thus, seem selectively to participate in signal transduction by ON bipolar cells.
We report a study of the characterization of voltage-activated potassium (K+) currents in retinal ON bipolar cells in zebrafish. At single-channels levels, the open probability of the K+ channels increased when the membrane potential was increased. The maximal open proportion was 0.76+/-0.05 under our testing conditions. In whole-cell recordings, the K+ current displayed two exponential components with the activation time constants of 11-22 msec (tau1) and 0.8-4 msec (tau2). Dopamine modulated the K+ current. Dopamine reduced the time constant tau2 when the membrane potential was depolarized to high voltages. A decrease in K+ current was seen when dopamine D1 receptors were selectively activated by SKF38393 or when the D1 receptor-coupled G-proteins were activated by GTP-gamma-S. The activation of adenylate cyclase by forskolin or the increase of intracellular cAMP concentrations by 8-Br-cAMP or Sp-cAMPS also resulted in a decrease in K+ current. Together, the data suggest that dopamine modulates the K+ current via D1 receptor-coupled G-protein pathways.
1. Protein kinase modulation of gamma-aminobutyric acid-A (GABAA)- and glycine-activated Cl- currents in freshly dissociated, morphologically identified rabbit retinal rod bipolar cells was studied under voltage clamp with the use of the whole cell patch-clamp technique. Responses to pulses of GABA and glycine were monitored before, during, and after application of adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP)-dependent protein kinase (PKA) and protein kinase C (PKC) activators, inactive analogues, and inhibitors. 2. Bath perfusion with either forskolin, an adenylate cyclase activator, or its inactive analogue, 1,9 dideoxyforskolin, reduced the GABA-activated Cl- currents by 30-50%; coapplication of N-[2-(Methylamino)ethyl]-5-isoquinolinesulfonamide hydrochloride (H-8), a PKA inhibitor, did not prevent the forskolin effects. The membrane-permeable cAMP analogues, 8-bromo-cAMP and 8-(4-Chlorophenylthio)-cAMP, and intracellularly dialyzed cAMP, did not modulate either the GABA- or glycine-activated Cl- current. Perfusion of the phosphodiesterase inhibitor 3-isobutyl-1-methylxantine (IBMX) had no direct effect on the GABA-activated current and did not alter the results with cAMP or its membrane-permeable analogues. Collectively, these results make it very unlikely that PKA represents an important mechanism of either GABAA or glycine channel modulation in the rabbit rod bipolar cell. 3. Although the isoquinoline sulfonamide protein kinase inhibitor H-8 was without discernible effect, the related compounds 1-(5-Isoquinolinesulfonyl)-2-methylpiperazine dihydrochlorine (H-7) and N-(2-Aminoethyl)-5-isoquinolinesulfonamide dihydrochloride (H-9) both dramatically reduced the GABA response. H-7 also strongly reduced the response to glycine, whereas H-8 had no effect and H-9 had an intermediate effect. Because only certain members of this inhibitor class of agents proved effective, and their effectiveness appeared unrelated to the established activity profiles, these agents probably inhibit the Cl- currents in a phosphorylation-independent manner. Direct interaction of these inhibitors with binding sites in the GABAA receptor-channel complex has been previously reported in some other preparations. 4. The phorbol ester and PKC activator phorbol 12,13 dibutyrate (PDB) led to a 35-55% reduction in the GABA-activated Cl- current of the rod bipolar cell. The broad-spectrum kinase inhibitor staurosporine, and the more PKC-specific inhibitor calphostin C, had no direct effect on GABA responses, but prevented Cl- current reduction when coapplied with PDB. Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) reduced the GABA-activated current in a fashion very similar to PDB. Staurosporine and calphostin C blocked the PMA effect. No reduction of Cl- current was seen with the inactive analogue, 4-alpha-PMA, used as a control for PKC-independent phorbol ester effects. 5. PDB effectively reduced the GABA-activated Cl- current of the rod bipolar cell at low concentrations, whereas PMA had a diminished effect at low concentrations. This is consistent with the reported concentration-dependent abilities of these agents to promote translocation of PKC-alpha immunoreactivity from the membrane to the cytosolic compartment in the rabbit retinal rod bipolar cell. Collectively, the data from phorbol esters, inactive analogues, and kinase inhibitors support the existence of a PKC-mediated mechanism for GABA-activated Cl- current reduction in these cells. 6. The naphthalenesulfonamide PKC activator N-(n-Heptyl)-5-chloro-1-naphthalenesulfonamide (SC-10) also potently and reversibly reduced the GABA-activated current. Staurosporine and calphostin C eliminated this effect. When the nonhydrolyzable guanosine 5'-triphosphate (GTP) analogue guanosine 5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate) tetralithium salt (GTP-gamma-S) replaced GTP in the recording pipette, the SC-10-mediated GABA current reduction became irreversible.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED)
Glutamate released onto retinal ON bipolar neurons binds to a metabotropic receptor to activate a heterotrimeric G-protein (G(o)) that ultimately closes a nonspecific cation channel. Signaling requires the alpha subunit (Galpha(o)), but its effector is unknown. Because Galpha(o) is transcribed into two splice variants (alpha(o1) and alpha(o2)) that differ in the key GTPase domain, the next step in elucidating this pathway was to determine which splice variant carries the signal. Here we show by reverse transcription-PCR and Western blots that retina expresses both splice variants. Furthermore, in situ hybridization and immunostaining on mouse retina deficient in one splice variant or the other show that both alpha(o1) and alpha(o2) are expressed by ON bipolar cells but that alpha(o1) is much more abundant. Finally, electroretinography performed on mice deficient for one splice variant or the other shows that the positive b-wave (response of ON bipolar cells to rod and cone input) requires alpha(o1) but not alpha(o2). Thus, the light response of the ON bipolar cell is probably carried by its strongly expressed splice variant, Galpha(o1).
Axonal differentiation of retinal bipolar cells has largely been studied by comparing the morphology of these interneurons in fixed tissue at different ages. To better understand how bipolar axonal terminals develop in vivo, we imaged fluorescently labeled cells in the zebrafish retina using time-lapse confocal and two photon microscopy. Using the upstream regulatory sequences from the nyx gene that encodes nyctalopin, we constructed a transgenic fish in which a subset of retinal bipolar cells express membrane targeted yellow fluorescent protein (MYFP). Axonal terminals of these YFP-labeled bipolar cells laminated primarily in the inner half of the inner plexiform layer, suggesting that they are likely to be ON-bipolar cells. Transient expression of MYFP in isolated bipolar cells indicates that two or more subsets of bipolar cells, with one or two terminal boutons, are labeled. Live imaging of YFP-expressing bipolar cells in the nyx::MYFP transgenic fish at different ages showed that initially, filopodial-like structures extend and retract from their primary axonal process throughout the inner plexiform layer (IPL). Over time, filopodial exploration becomes concentrated at discrete foci prior to the establishment of large terminal boutons, characteristic of the mature form. This sequence of axonal differentiation suggests that synaptic targeting by bipolar cell axons may involve an early process of trial and error, rather than a process of directed outgrowth and contact. Our observations represent the first in vivo visualization of axonal development of bipolar cells in a vertebrate retina.
The Purkinje neuron, one of the most fascinating components of the cerebellar cortex, is involved in motor learning, motor coordination, and cognitive function. Purkinje cell protein 2 (Pcp2/L7) expression is highly restricted to Purkinje and retinal bipolar cells, where it has been exploited to enable highly specific, Cre recombinase-mediated, site-specific recombination. Previous studies showed that mice carrying a Cre transgene produced by insertion of Cre cDNA into a small 2.88-kb Pcp2 DNA fragment expressed Cre in Purkinje cells; however, some Cre activity was also observed outside the target tissues. Here, we used Red-mediated recombineering to insert Cre cDNA into a 173-kb BAC carrying the entire intact Pcp2 gene, and characterize the resultant BAC/Cre transgenic mice for Cre expression. We show that BAC/Cre transgenic mice have exclusive Cre expression in Purkinje and bipolar cells and nowhere else. These mice will facilitate Purkinje cell and retinal bipolar cell-specific genetic manipulation.
Cone bipolar cells of the vertebrate retina connect photoreceptors with ganglion cells to mediate photopic vision. Despite this important role, the mechanisms that regulate cone bipolar cell differentiation are poorly understood. VSX1 is a CVC domain homeoprotein specifically expressed in cone bipolar cells. To determine the function of VSX1, we generated Vsx1 mutant mice and found that Vsx1 mutant retinal cells form but do not differentiate a mature cone bipolar cell phenotype. Electrophysiological studies demonstrated that Vsx1 mutant mice have defects in their cone visual pathway, whereas the rod visual pathway was unaffected. Thus, Vsx1 is required for cone bipolar cell differentiation and regulates photopic vision perception.
In non-mammalian vertebrates, retinal bipolar cells show center-surround receptive field organization. In mammals, recordings from bipolar cells are rare and have not revealed a clear surround. Here we report center-surround receptive fields of identified cone bipolar cells in the macaque monkey retina. In the peripheral retina, cone bipolar cell nuclei were labeled in vitro with diamidino-phenylindole (DAPI), targeted for recording under microscopic control, and anatomically identified by intracellular staining. Identified cells included 'diffuse' bipolar cells, which contact multiple cones, and 'midget' bipolar cells, which contact a single cone. Responses to flickering spots and annuli revealed a clear surround: both hyperpolarizing (OFF) and depolarizing (ON) cells responded with reversed polarity to annular stimuli. Center and surround dimensions were calculated for 12 bipolar cells from the spatial frequency response to drifting, sinusoidal luminance modulated gratings. The frequency response was bandpass and well fit by a difference of Gaussians receptive field model. Center diameters were all two to three times larger than known dendritic tree diameters for both diffuse and midget bipolar cells in the retinal periphery. In one instance intracellular staining revealed tracer spread between a recorded cell and its nearest neighbors, suggesting that homotypic electrical coupling may contribute to receptive field center size. Surrounds were around ten times larger in diameter than centers and in most cases the ratio of center to surround strength was approximately 1. We suggest that the center-surround receptive fields of the major primate ganglion cell types are established at the bipolar cell, probably by the circuitry of the outer retina.