The Diversity of Ganglion Cells in a Mammalian Retina

We report a survey of the population of ganglion cells in the rabbit retina. A random sample of 301 neurons in the ganglion cell layer was targeted for photofilling, a method in which the arbors of the chosen neurons are revealed by diffusion of a photochemically induced fluorescent product from the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of neuroscience 2002-05, Vol.22 (9), p.3831-3843
Main Authors: Rockhill, Rebecca L, Daly, Frank J, MacNeil, Margaret A, Brown, Solange P, Masland, Richard H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biolistics
Cell Count
Cell Size
Dendrites - ultrastructure
Fluorescent Dyes - administration & dosage
Fluorescent Dyes - pharmacokinetics
Genes, Reporter
Green Fluorescent Proteins
In Vitro Techniques
Isoquinolines - administration & dosage
Isoquinolines - pharmacokinetics
Luminescent Proteins - biosynthesis
Luminescent Proteins - genetics
Microinjections
Microspheres
Rabbits
Retinal Ganglion Cells - classification
Retinal Ganglion Cells - cytology
Retinal Ganglion Cells - physiology
Vision, Ocular - physiology
Visual Fields - physiology
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Summary:We report a survey of the population of ganglion cells in the rabbit retina. A random sample of 301 neurons in the ganglion cell layer was targeted for photofilling, a method in which the arbors of the chosen neurons are revealed by diffusion of a photochemically induced fluorescent product from their somas. An additional 129 cells were labeled by microinjection of Lucifer yellow. One hundred and thirty-eight cells were visualized by expression of the gene encoding a green fluorescent protein, introduced by particle-mediated gene transfer. One hundred and sixty-six cells were labeled by particle-mediated introduction of DiI. In the total population of 734 neurons, we could identify 11 types of retinal ganglion cell. An analysis based on retinal coverage shows that this number of ganglion cell types would not exceed the available total number of ganglion cells. Although some uncertainties remain, this sample appears to account for the majority of the ganglion cells present in the rabbit retina. Some known physiological types could easily be mapped onto structural types, but half of them could not; a large set of poorly known codings of the visual input is transmitted to the brain.
ISSN:0270-6474
1529-2401
DOI:10.1523/jneurosci.22-09-03831.2002