| First Author | Pang JJ | Year | 2010 |
| Journal | Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A | Volume | 107 |
| Issue | 1 | Pages | 395-400 |
| PubMed ID | 20018684 | Mgi Jnum | J:156464 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:4420702 | Doi | 10.1073/pnas.0907178107 |
| Citation | Pang JJ, et al. (2010) Direct rod input to cone BCs and direct cone input to rod BCs challenge the traditional view of mammalian BC circuitry. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 107(1):395-400 |
| abstractText | Bipolar cells are the central neurons of the retina that transmit visual signals from rod and cone photoreceptors to third-order neurons in the inner retina and the brain. A dogma set forth by early anatomical studies is that bipolar cells in mammalian retinas receive segregated rod/cone synaptic inputs (either from rods or from cones), and here, we present evidence that challenges this traditional view. By analyzing light-evoked cation currents from morphologically identified depolarizing bipolar cells (DBCs) in the wild-type and three pathway-specific knockout mice (rod transducin knockout [Tralpha(-/-)], connexin36 knockout [Cx36(-/-)], and transcription factor beta4 knockout [Bhlhb4(-/-)]), we show that a subpopulation of rod DBCs (DBC(R2)s) receives substantial input directly from cones and a subpopulation of cone DBCs (DBC(C1)s) receives substantial input directly from rods. These results provide evidence of the existence of functional rod-DBC(C) and cone-DBC(R) synaptic pathways in the mouse retina as well as the previously proposed rod hyperpolarizing bipolar-cells pathway. This is grounds for revising the mammalian rod/cone bipolar cell dogma. |
