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| Open AccessA very large-scale microelectrode array for cellular-resolution electrophysiology
Large electronics limit low-noise, non-invasive electrophysiological measurements to a thousand simultaneously recording channels. Here the authors build an array of 65k simultaneously recording and stimulating electrodes and use it to sort and classify single neurons across the entire mouse retina.
- David Tsai
- , Daniel Sawyer
- & Kenneth L. Shepard
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| Open AccessRods progressively escape saturation to drive visual responses in daylight conditions
Rod photoreceptors are thought to be saturated under bright light. Here, the authors describe the physiological parameters that mediate response saturation of rod photoreceptors in mouse retina, and show that rods can drive visual responses in photopic conditions.
- Alexandra Tikidji-Hamburyan
- , Katja Reinhard
- & Thomas A. Münch
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| Open AccessMüller glial microRNAs are required for the maintenance of glial homeostasis and retinal architecture
Müller glia are a type of retinal glial cell important for maintaining retinal structure and implicated in response to retinal damage. Here the authors identify Brevican, a chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan, as a microRNA-modulated regulator of Müller glia function.
- Stefanie G. Wohl
- , Nikolas L. Jorstad
- & Thomas A. Reh
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| Open AccessHomeostatic plasticity shapes the visual system’s first synapse
Retinal rod bipolar cells (RBCs) partially undergo programmed cell death triggering cell density-dependent plasticity. This study shows that increased removal of RBCs using genetic approaches causes dendrites of the remaining RBCs to expand and contact more rod photoreceptors while reducing connectivity with each.
- Robert E. Johnson
- , Nai-Wen Tien
- & Daniel Kerschensteiner
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| Open AccessInference of neuronal functional circuitry with spike-triggered non-negative matrix factorization
How a neuron integrates sensory information requires knowledge about its functional presynaptic connections. Here the authors report a new method using non-negative matrix factorization to identify the layout of presynaptic bipolar cell inputs onto retinal ganglion cells and predict their responses to natural stimuli.
- Jian K. Liu
- , Helene M. Schreyer
- & Tim Gollisch
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| Open AccessDendro-dendritic cholinergic excitation controls dendritic spike initiation in retinal ganglion cells
Neural computations performed by the retinal microcircuit have been extensively studied. Here the authors report using dendritic recordings that the direction selective responses of retinal ganglion cells are controlled by dendro-dendritic cholinergic excitation from starburst amacrine cells.
- A. Brombas
- , S. Kalita-de Croft
- & S. R. Williams
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| Open AccessBlue light regenerates functional visual pigments in mammals through a retinyl-phospholipid intermediate
It is currently thought that visual pigments in vertebrate photoreceptors are regenerated exclusively through enzymatic cycles. Here the authors show that mammalian photoreceptors also regenerate opsin pigments in light through photoisomerization of N-ret-PE (N-retinylidene-phosphatidylethanolamine.
- Joanna J. Kaylor
- , Tongzhou Xu
- & Gabriel H. Travis
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| Open AccessRetinal transplantation of photoreceptors results in donor–host cytoplasmic exchange
Integration of transplanted photoreceptors into the host retina has been assumed as the underlying mechanism for vision improvement in pre-clinical studies. Here, the authors show that the majority of transplanted photoreceptors do not structurally integrate but exchange intercellular material with host cells.
- Tiago Santos-Ferreira
- , Sílvia Llonch
- & Marius Ader
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| Open AccessDonor and host photoreceptors engage in material transfer following transplantation of post-mitotic photoreceptor precursors
Transplantation of healthy photoreceptor cells has been shown to rescue blindness. Here, the authors show that rather than donor cells integrating into the host retina, the predominant mechanism underlying this rescue involves exchange of cytoplasmic material between donor and host cells in vivo.
- R. A. Pearson
- , A. Gonzalez-Cordero
- & R. R. Ali
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| Open AccessStereotyped initiation of retinal waves by bipolar cells via presynaptic NMDA autoreceptors
Retinal waves are important for visual system development. However, the mechanism involved in their generation remains largely unknown. Here using in vivotwo-photon imaging the authors identify the presence of retinal waves in zebrafish larvae and find that they are initiated at bipolar cells via presynaptic NMDARs.
- Rong-wei Zhang
- , Xiao-quan Li
- & Jiu-lin Du
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| Open AccessA network comprising short and long noncoding RNAs and RNA helicase controls mouse retina architecture
The mammalian retina is a modular brain region, in which cell layers are of uniform thickness but the molecular mechanism controlling this process is not well understood. Here the authors identify a regulatory network consisting of the long noncoding RNA Rncr4, RNA helicase Ddx3x and miR-183/96/182 that controls the even distribution of cells across layers.
- Jacek Krol
- , Ilona Krol
- & Witold Filipowicz
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Analysis of opo cis-regulatory landscape uncovers Vsx2 requirement in early eye morphogenesis
The transcriptional regulation of morphogenetic effectors during eye development is poorly understood. Here, the authors show that transcription of an endocytosis regulator Opois crucial for the neural retina development in zebrafish and activated by the interaction of the transcription factor Vsx2 and retinal enhancer H6_10137.
- Ines Gago-Rodrigues
- , Ana Fernández-Miñán
- & Juan R. Martinez-Morales
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Generation of a ciliary margin-like stem cell niche from self-organizing human retinal tissue
The ciliary margin of the eye functions as a source of multipotent progenitor cells in certain organisms but whether it plays this role in humans has not been easy to study. Here the authors culture human embryonic stem cells that self-organize into retinal tissue, and show that ciliary margin-like growth zones emerge from the developing human retinal tissue and contain stem cell niches.
- Atsushi Kuwahara
- , Chikafumi Ozone
- & Yoshiki Sasai
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| Open AccessThe cavefish genome reveals candidate genes for eye loss
Populations of the cave fish Astyanax mexicanus exhibit a variety of traits that evolved repeatedly and independently from its surface counterparts. Here the authors present a de novo genome assembly for A. mexicanusand identify candidate genes for eye loss and reduced pigmentation.
- Suzanne E. McGaugh
- , Joshua B. Gross
- & Wesley C. Warren
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Generation of three-dimensional retinal tissue with functional photoreceptors from human iPSCs
Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) hold great potential for modelling human developmental processes and diseases. Here the authors induce human iPSCs to spontaneously form fully laminated three-dimensional retinal tissue containing functional photoreceptor cells.
- Xiufeng Zhong
- , Christian Gutierrez
- & M. Valeria Canto-Soler
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| Open AccessComplement anaphylatoxin C3a is a potent inducer of embryonic chick retina regeneration
Components of the complement system have been shown to promote liver regeneration. Haynes et al. demonstrate that the complement fragment C3a can induce regeneration of the embryonic chick retina from stem and progenitor cells of the ciliary margin via activation of STAT3 and other downstream signalling pathways.
- Tracy Haynes
- , Agustin Luz-Madrigal
- & Katia Del Rio-Tsonis
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Cortical responses elicited by photovoltaic subretinal prostheses exhibit similarities to visually evoked potentials
Visual prosthetics based on photovoltaic devices have been proposed to allow the functional restoration of lost sight. Mandel et al. assess the retinal responses to implanted retinal prosthetics in rats with degenerate retinas and find that they elicit responses in the visual cortex when stimulated by light.
- Yossi Mandel
- , Georges Goetz
- & Daniel Palanker
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| Open AccessRestricted perinatal retinal degeneration induces retina reshaping and correlated structural rearrangement of the retinotopic map
Development of the visual system involves remodelling of retinal ganglion cell axons. Maiorano and Hindges create a mouse model where specific retinal portions are genetically eliminated, and find that both the retina and its projections reorganize to maintain uniform visual space coverage.
- Nicola A. Maiorano
- & Robert Hindges
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| Open AccessGlia- and neuron-specific functions of TrkB signalling during retinal degeneration and regeneration
The central nervous system contains glial cells, which have been shown to have an important role in neuronal survival. Haradaet al. use transgenic mouse models to show that TrkB, a receptor for the growth factor brain-derived neurotrophic factor, is required for retinal Müller glial cells to provide neuroprotection and regeneration.
- Chikako Harada
- , Xiaoli Guo
- & Takayuki Harada