Dopamine-accumulating retinal neurons revealed by in vitro fluorescence display a unique morphology

Dopamine is the principal catecholamine neurotransmitter in the vertebrate retina. The shape of retinal neurons that accumulate dopamine has been demonstrated in an in vitro preparation of cat retina. This was achieved by the discovery that the combined uptake of dopamine and the indoleaminergic transmitter analog 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine leads to an intense, catecholamine-like fluorescence in the cell bodies and processes of presumed dopaminergic amacrine cells in the living retina. This fluorescence served as an in vitro marker for these cells, and their detailed morphology was analyzed after intracellular injection of horseradish peroxidase under direct microscopic control. The horseradish peroxidase-filled cells show an unprecedented neuronal morphology: each cell gives rise to multiple, axon-like processes that arise from, and extend for millimeters beyond, the dendritic tree. The unique structure of this type of amacrine cell suggests a function for dopamine in long-range lateral interactions in the inner plexiform layer.     

Facilitated sexual behavior reversed and serotonin restored by raphe nuclei transplanted into denervated hypothalamus

Fetal raphe cells transplanted into the hypothalamus reversed facilitation of feminine sexual behavior in rats with brain lesions induced by 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine. Immunocytochemical and chemical analyses of serotonin indicate that reinnervation of the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus by the transplants is associated with behavioral recovery. The findings suggest that transplanted fetal tissue can exert functional regulation over an innate, complex, hormone-dependent behavior in adult rats.     

鳜仔鱼视网膜及口腔齿的发育对摄食的适应

采用石蜡切片及HE染色的方法对鳜受精卵及1～30 d仔鱼的视网膜结构和视觉特性进行研究,结果表明:(1)受精后54 h晶状体形成,视网膜还未分化;80 h视网膜分化为外核层、内核层、内网层和神经节细胞层4层结构;98 h形成色素上皮层、视杆视锥层和神经纤维层;124 h外网层形成,视网膜10层结构发育完全。孵化后4 d开始出现少量颌齿和咽齿;5 d和14 d分别观察到腭齿和犁齿;15d时鳃耙形成但形状较小。口腔齿的数量随着仔鱼个体的生长而增加至近于成体。(2)鳜内核层分化成一层水平细胞、数层双极细胞和无长突细胞,属光感受系统不发达的类型。(3)鳜仔鱼在消化系统尚未发育完全时已经开始形成口腔齿,为提高捕食的成功率提供了基础条件,充分表现了个体发育在进化过程中与生存环境相适应的特点。(4)鳜神经节细胞层细胞随个体的生长发育而减少,孵化后29 d,体长18.36 mm时,只有一层神经节细胞,说明此时的仔鱼已适应黑暗环境生活。鳜视觉结构的变化与其从浮游到底层的生态迁移及捕食方式的变化相适应。研究亮点:从组织学研究角度对鳜仔鱼视网膜发育进行了探讨,详细研究了视网膜各组成结构的发育特征,并结合鳜仔鱼齿的发育特征,分析了其对摄食行为的适应,首次解释了伴随着视网膜发育而形成的由浮游生活到底层生活的适应,研究结果以期为鳜在种苗生产过程中正确选择开口饵料和早期动物性饵料,以降低种苗的死亡率等提供理论依据。     

Acetylcholine receptor synthesis in retina and transport to optic tectum in goldfish

Previous studies have suggested that the retinotectal system of the goldfish contains a nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) that is sensitive to alpha-bungarotoxin. Extracellularly recorded field potentials elicited in response to visual stimulation can be blocked by alpha-bungarotoxin, and alpha-bungarotoxin can interfere with the maintenance of retinotectal synaptic connections. Whether the transmission between the retinal ganglion cells and the tectal cells is mediated by acetylcholine and whether nAChR's exist on the dendrites of tectal cells are questions that remain. The experiments described in this report were designed to determine the site of synthesis of the nAChR's associated with the goldfish retinotectal projection. Radioactive (35S-labeled) methionine was injected into either the eye or the tectal ventricle, and the incorporation of radioactivity into the nAChR was measured by immunoprecipitation. The use of this technique provides evidence that an nAChR associated with the goldfish retinotectal projection is synthesized in the retina and transported to the optic tectum, which suggests a presynaptic site of acetylcholine action on retinal terminals.     

Kainic acid induces sprouting of retinal neurons

The neurotoxin kainic acid caused dose-dependent morphological changes in horizontal cells of the retinas of adult cats and rabbits. High concentrations of kainic acid killed the cells, but when exposed to sublethal doses they contracted their dendritic fields and sent sprouting processes into the inner retina. It appears that kainic acid can induce neuronal growth as well as degeneration and that the potential for morphological plasticity is still present in neurons of the adult mammalian retina.     

Multipotent precursors can give rise to all major cell types of the frog retina

A prospective lineage analysis was performed to determine the variety of cell types that could be formed by individual precursor cells of the developing frog retina. Fluorescent dextran was iontophoretically injected into single cells of the embryonic optic vesicle. After further development of the embryo, labeled descendants were observed in all three layers of the larval retina. Furthermore, different clones were composed of various combinations of all major cell types, including the glial Müller cells. Hence, single optic vesicle cells have the potential to form any type of retinal cell, suggesting that the interactions that specify the differentiation pathway of retinal cells must occur late in development.     

A strong influence of serotonin axons on beta-adrenergic receptors in rat brain

The role of serotonin axons in modulating the norepinephrine neurotransmission system in rat brain was investigated. Selective lesions of the forebrain serotonergic system were made by injecting 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine into the midbrain raphe nuclei. Four to six weeks after the lesion, the uptake of 3H-labeled serotonin in the frontal cortex and the hippocampus was reduced by more than 90 percent, while neither the uptake of 3H-labeled norepinephrine nor the content of norepinephrine was affected in either tissue. The number of beta-adrenergic receptors, as measured by radioligand binding with 3H-labeled dihydroalprenolol, was increased in the frontal cortex and hippocampus of rats with lesions. Similarly, specific lesions of central serotonin axons produced by systemically administered p-chloramphetamine resulted in an increase in the binding of 3H-labeled dihydroalprenolol to beta-adrenergic receptors and in the production of adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate in response to isoproterenol. These results indicate that serotonin axons may regulate beta-adrenergic receptor number and function in brain.     

The retina of the newborn human infant

We have examined a pair of eyes from a normal, full-term infant who died at 8 days as a result of accidental injury. Eyes were obtained immediately after death, fixed, and sectioned for light microscopy. Results from both eyes were substantially the same. The macular region was still drastically immature at 1 week. Even though a foveal depression existed, all cell layers were still present across it. Furthermore, the inner nuclear layer was divided into two separate layers. The receptor layer was reduced to one or two cells thick; receptors had both inner and outer segments, but they were very short and stumpy. The region of immaturity covered about 5 degrees of the retina. These findings suggest that the central region of a human infant's retina is probably not fully functional at birth.     

点带石斑鱼脑组织和视网膜中神经型一氧化氮合成酶的分布与定位

【目的】研究点带石斑鱼脑组织和视网膜中的一氧化氮（NO）含量及神经型一氧化氮合成酶（nNOS）分布与活性,为深入揭示NO在点带石斑鱼神经系统中的作用机制打下基础。【方法】采用NADPH-d组织化学染色法、免疫组织化学法、蛋白免疫印迹（Western blotting）及Griess试剂法,对点带石斑鱼脑组织和视网膜中nNOS的分布与活性及NO含量进行分析。【结果】经NADPH-d组织化学染色后,一氧化氮合成酶（NOS）阳性物质呈蓝色。在点带石斑鱼大脑中,NOS阳性物质位于神经元和神经纤维;在小脑中,NOS分布在颗粒层的颗粒细胞、分子层的神经纤维和浦肯野细胞层的浦肯野细胞;在视网膜中,NOS分布于色素上皮层、视锥视杆层、外核层、外网层、内核层、内网层、节细胞层和视神经纤维层。经免疫组织化学染色后,nNOS阳性物质呈深棕色。在大脑中,nNOS存在于神经元和神经纤维;在小脑中,nNOS分布在颗粒层、分子层和浦肯野细胞层;在视网膜中,nNOS分布在色素上皮层、视锥视杆层、外核层、外网层、内核层、内网层、节细胞层和视神经纤维层。Western blotting检测结果显示,点带石斑鱼脑组织和视网膜中的nNOS在显色后的硝酸纤维素膜上均出现3条免疫印迹条带,对应分子量分别为80、120和130kD。NO含量在点带石斑鱼脑组织和视网膜中分别为17.601±1.743和13.624±1.249μmol/L,nNOS活性在脑组织和视网膜中分别为38.070±3.047和23.748±2.860U/mg。【结论】在点带石斑鱼脑组织和视网膜中均存在nNOS,推测nNOS在点带石斑鱼脑神经及视神经系统生理活动中发挥重要作用。脑组织中的NO含量和nNOS活性均显著高于视网膜,是由于脑组织作为重要的中枢神经,对机体生理功能起重要调节作用。     

Dendritic computation of direction selectivity by retinal ganglion cells

Direction-selective ganglion cells (DSGCs) in the retina respond strongly when stimulated by image motion in a preferred direction but are only weakly excited by image motion in the opposite null direction. Such coding represents an early manifestation of complex information processing in the visual system, but the cellular locus and the synaptic mechanisms have yet to be elucidated. We recorded the synaptic activity of DSGCs using strategies to observe the asymmetric inhibitory inputs that underlie the generation of direction selectivity. The critical nonlinear interactions between the excitatory and inhibitory inputs took place postsynaptically within the dendrites of the DSGCs.     

Target-dependent structural changes accompanying long-term synaptic facilitation in Aplysia neurons

The mechanisms underlying structural changes that accompany learning and memory have been difficult to investigate in the intact nervous system. In order to make these changes more accessible for experimental analysis, dissociated cell culture and low-light-level video microscopy were used to examine Aplysia sensory neurons in the presence or absence of their target cells. Repeated applications of serotonin, a facilitating transmitter important in behavioral dishabituation and sensitization, produced growth of the sensory neurons that paralleled the long-term enhancement of synaptic strength. This growth required the presence of the postsynaptic motor neuron. Thus, both the structural changes and the synaptic facilitation of Aplysia sensorimotor synapses accompanying long-term behavioral sensitization can be produced in vitro by applying a single facilitating transmitter repeatedly. These structural changes depend on an interaction of the presynaptic neuron with an appropriate postsynaptic target.     

Unusual retinal cells in the dolphin eye

By comparison to the cellular constituents of the retinas of certain other diving mammals, the elements of the dolphin retina include an unusually large number of specialized cells. Both cone and rod receptors may be identified. An unusual amacrine cell may be seen which produces a process that spans the cells between the inner plexiform and outer plexiform layers. Most unusual is a layer of giant ganglion cells which appears to serve most of the central retina. The giant ganglion cells support giant dendrites and optic nerve fibers which range up to 8 micrometers in diameter.     

Ribosome biogenesis: nonrandom addition of structural proteins to 50S subunits

Assemblage of structural proteins into 50S subunits was examined in Escherichia coli recovering fromt chloramphenicol treatment. Cells previously labeled with H3-leucine for three generations were incuibated for 30 minutes with chloramnlphenicol. Proteins synthesized during the initial 5 minuites of recovery from chlorarmphenicol treatmnent were labeled with C(14)-leucine. Marked variation in the ratios of C(14)- to H(3)-leucine in ribosomal protein occurred in cells that had been treated with chloramphenicol; luntreated cells displayed little variation. Thle resuilts sliggest that ribosomal proteins are assenmbled into 50S subunits in a nonrandom manner.     

Hemichannel-mediated inhibition in the outer retina

An essential feature of the first synapse in the retina is a negative feedback pathway from horizontal cells to cones. Here we show that at this synapse, connexin26 forms hemichannels on horizontal cell dendrites near the glutamate release site of the cones. Blocking these hemichannels hyperpolarizes horizontal cells, modulates the Ca2+ channels of the cones, and abolishes all feedback-mediated responses. We propose a feedback mechanism in which the activity of the Ca2+ channels and the subsequent glutamate release of the cones are modulated by a current through these hemichannels. Because the current through the hemichannels depends on the polarization of the horizontal cells, their activity modulates the output of the cones.     

Substance P activity in the bullfrog retina: localization and identification in several vertebrate species

Immunoreactive substance P is present in the bullfrog retina, possibly in two types of stratified amacrine cells, with their somas in the inner nuclear layer and their neuronal processes entering the inner plexiform layer and ramifying in sublayers 3 or 4 (or both). Occasionally, polygonal somas positive for substance P were found in the ganglion cell layer. Approximately 75 percent of the cell bodies positive for substance P and 65 percent of the radioimmunoassayable substance P were found in the superior half of the frog retina. On the basis of high-performance liquid chromatography, the immunoreactive substance P in the neural retina of the rat, monkey, or chick is similar to synthetic substance P, whereas this is not true of the immunoreactive substance P in the bullfrog or carp retina.     

Substance P and cholecystokinin-like peptides in Helix neurons and cholecystokinin and serotonin in a giant neuron

Immunohistochemical procedures revealed that the serotonin-containing cell situated in each metacerebral ganglion of the snail Helix also contains a cholecystokinin-like peptide, but is devoid of substance P. In radioimmunoassays the cholecystokinin-like material showed similarities to the carboxy terminal regions of mammalian cholecystokinin and gastrin. Since much is known about the morphology and synaptic connections of this serotonin neuron, the role of the cholecystokinin-like peptides can now be investigated by neurophysiological methods, thus opening the way to discovering whether a neuron can use more than one transmitter.     

Spatial buffering of light-evoked potassium increases by retinal Müller (glial) cells

Activity-dependent variations in extracellular potassium concentration in the central nervous system may be regulated, in part, by potassium spatial buffering currents in glial cells. The role of spatial buffering in the retina was assessed by measuring light-evoked potassium changes in amphibian eyecups. The amplitude of potassium increases in the vitreous humor was reduced to approximately 10 percent by 50 micromolar barium, while potassium increases in the inner plexiform layer were largely unchanged. The decrease in the vitreal potassium response was accurately simulated with a numerical model of potassium current flow through Müller cells, the principal glial cells of the retina. Barium also substantially increased the input resistance of Müller cells and blocked the Müller cell-generated M-wave, indicating that barium blocks the potassium channels of Müller cells. Thus, after a light-evoked potassium increase within the retina, there is a substantial transfer of potassium from the retina to the vitreous humor by potassium current flow through Müller cells.     

Ectopic expression of the serotonin 1c receptor and the triggering of malignant transformation

Neurotransmitter receptors are usually restricted to neuronal cells, but the signaling pathways activated by these receptors are widely distributed in both neural and non-neural cells. The functional consequences of activating a brain-specific neurotransmitter receptor, the serotonin 5HT1c receptor, in the unnatural environment of a fibroblast were examined. Introduction of functional 5HT1c receptors into NIH 3T3 cells results, at high frequency, in the generation of transformed foci. Moreover, the generation and maintenance of transformed foci requires continued activation of the serotonin receptor. In addition, the injection of cells derived from transformed foci into nude mice results in the generation of tumors. The serotonin 5HT1c receptor therefore functions as a protooncogene when expressed in NIH 3T3 fibroblasts.     

On the presence of liquid in Earth's inner core

Seismological studies indicate that the inner core of Earth is anisotropic for compressional waves (P waves), and has low shear wave (S wave) velocity, and high seismic attenuation. Using an effective medium theory for composite materials, we show that the presence of a volume fraction of 3 to 10% liquid in the form of oblate spheroidal inclusions aligned in the equatorial plane between iron crystals is sufficient to explain the aforementioned seismic phenomena. Variation of S-wave velocity between the polar axis and equatorial plane is more sensitive to the addition of liquid than that of P waves. The liquid could arise from the presence of dendrites or a mixture of elements other than iron that exist in liquid form under inner-core conditions.     

Order in the optic nerve of goldfish

A small amount of horseradish peroxidase, injected into the goldfish optic nerve and transported into the retina, filled an annulus of ganglion cells. Since the retina grew by annular addition of cells, this result shows that axons from cells of similar age clustered together in the nerve.