Publication: No loss of melanopsin-expressing ganglion cells detected during postnatal development of the mouse retina
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Date
2010
Authors
González-Menéndez, Irene ; Contreras, Felipe ; Cernuda-Cernuda, R. ; García-Fernández, J.M.
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Publisher
Murcia : F. Hernández
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DOI
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info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Description
Abstract
Melanopsin, an opsin protein expressed in
mammalian retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), makes them
responsive to light. Such photosensitive RGCs form the
retinohypothalamic tract (RHT) that provides signals to
the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), the master regulator
of circadian rhythms. The SCN is adjusted daily to the
environmental day/night cycle by signal inputs incoming
from the RHT. In the present work we have studied,
using immunohistochemistry techniques, the types and
number of cells which expressed melanopsin during the
postnatal development of pigmented C3H/He mice
maintained in a standard daily cycle (12-h light / 12-h
dark). Our results clearly show for the first time that the
retina maintains a rather constant number of melanopsinexpressing
RGCs from the first postnatal day and, thus,
demonstrate that no loss of these photosensitive cells
occurs during postnatal development. This supports the
general idea that the non-image-forming system, in
which these cells are involved, is functional at the very
early postnatal stage.
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