scholarly journals Lateral contacts and interactions of horizontal cell dendrites in the retina of the larval tiger salamander

1980 ◽  
Vol 301 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Lasansky
Keyword(s):  
Horizontal Cell ◽  
Tiger Salamander

GABAA receptor binding and localization in the tiger salamander retina

2000 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
HAO WANG ◽  
KELLY M. STANDIFER ◽  
DAVID M. SHERRY
Keyword(s):  
Gaba Receptors ◽  
Radioligand Binding ◽  
Specific Binding ◽  
Horizontal Cell ◽  
Tiger Salamander ◽  
Gamma Aminobutyric Acid ◽  
Binding Studies ◽  
Binding Properties ◽  
Gaba Binding ◽  
Sr 95531

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the retina and also appears to act as a trophic factor regulating photoreceptor development and regeneration. Although the tiger salamander is a major model system for the study of retinal circuitry and regeneration, our understanding of GABA receptors in this species is almost exclusively based on the results of physiological studies. Therefore, we have examined the pharmacological binding properties of GABAA receptors and their anatomical localization in the tiger salamander retina. Radioligand-binding studies showed that specific 3H-GABA binding to GABAA receptors was dominated by a single high-affinity binding site (Kd = 15.6 ± 6.9 nM). Specific binding of 3H-GABA was almost completely eliminated by muscimol (Ki = 105 ± 62 nM) and bicuculline (Ki = 14.3 ± 2.2 μM); however, SR-95531 only displaced about 40% of specific 3H-GABA binding (Ki = 35.0 ± 3.8 nM). These data indicate that there are at least two subtypes of GABAA receptors present in the salamander retina that can be distinguished by their antagonist binding properties: one sensitive to both bicuculline and SR-95531, and one sensitive to bicuculline but insensitive to SR-95531. Because localization of GABA receptors in the salamander retina by immunocytochemistry is problematic, GABAA receptors were localized by fluorescent ligand binding combined with immunocytochemical labeling for cell specific markers. Binding of fluorescently labeled muscimol to GABAA receptors was present in both plexiform layers and on photoreceptor cell bodies. GABAA receptors in the outer plexiform layer were localized to both photoreceptor terminals and horizontal cell processes.

Modulation of horizontal cell function by GABAA and GABAC receptors in dark- and light-adapted tiger salamander retina

1999 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 967-979 ◽  
Author(s):  
XIONG-LI YANG ◽  
FAN GAO ◽  
SAMUEL M. WU
Keyword(s):  
Membrane Potential ◽  
Gaba Receptors ◽  
Cell Function ◽  
Horizontal Cell ◽  
Reversal Potential ◽  
Cell Voltage ◽  
Chloride Conductance ◽  
Tiger Salamander ◽  
Light Responses ◽  
Gaba Transporters

The physiological function of GABA transporters and GABA receptors in retinal horizontal cells (HCs) under dark- and light-adapted conditions were studied by whole-cell voltage clamp and intracellular recording techniques in retinal slices and whole-mounted isolated retinas of the larval tiger salamander. Puff application of GABA in picrotoxin elicited a NO-711 (a potent GABA transporter blocker)-sensitive inward current that did not exhibit a reversal potential in the physiological range, consistent with the idea that these HCs contain electrogenic GABA transporters. Application of GABA in NO-711 elicited a chloride current in HCs; about half of the current was suppressed by bicuculline or I4AA (a GABAC receptor antagonist), and the remaining half was suppressed by bicuculline + I4AA or picrotoxin. In whole-mount retinas, NO-711, bicuculline, I4AA, or picrotoxin hyperpolarized the HCs and enhanced the light responses under dark-adapted conditions, and blocked the time-dependent recovery of HC membrane potential and light responses during background illumination. Based on the parallel conductance model, GABA released in darkness mediates a chloride conductance about three times greater than the leak conductance or the glutamate-gated cation conductance. About half of this chloride conductance is mediated by GABAA receptors, and the other half is mediated by GABAC receptors. These results suggest that GABA released from HCs through the NO-711-sensitive GABA transporters activates GABAA and GABAC receptors, resulting in chloride conductance increase which leads to a HC depolarization and reduction of the light response. Additionally, GABA transporters also mediate GABA release in background light that is responsible for the recovery of HC membrane potential and light responses.

Organization of the outer synaptic layer in the retina of the larval tiger Salamander

1973 ◽  
Vol 265 (872) ◽  
pp. 471-489 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Bipolar Cell ◽  
Photoreceptor Cell ◽  
Horizontal Cell ◽  
Bipolar Cells ◽  
Horizontal Cells ◽  
Tiger Salamander ◽  
Serial Sections ◽  
Rods And Cones ◽  
Cell Processes ◽  
Rod Cell

The organization of the outer synaptic layer in the salamander retina was studied electronmicroscopically in serial sections of tissue prepared by conventional techniques or stained by the method of Golgi. Rod cell pedicles make ribbon junctions on cone cell processes, and rod cell processes invaginate cone pedicles without otherwise making any specialized contact with them. Horizontal cells make ribbon and distal junctions with the photoreceptor cell pedicles; a single horizontal cell may contact both rods and cones. Bipolar cells were observed to make either ribbon or basal junctions with the photoreceptor cell pedicles; in addition, certain processes believed to belong to bipolar cells make both ribbon and basal junctions with the same or different pedicles. A single bipolar cell may make contact with both rods and cones. Horizontal cells synapse on bipolar cell dendrites and on certain unidentified processes which in turn are also presynaptic to bipolar cells. Ascending branches of these processes invaginate deeply the rod and cone pedicles without otherwise engaging them in any junction. Horizontal cell processes are linked by two kinds of junctions: close membrane appositions, and contacts analogous to the distal junctions between horizontal cells and rod pedicles.

Effects of calcium on rod and cone inputs to horizontal cells of the tiger salamander retina

1994 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 363-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiong-Li Yang ◽  
Samuel M. Wu
Keyword(s):  
Signal Transmission ◽  
Horizontal Cell ◽  
Light Response ◽  
Horizontal Cells ◽  
Cone Voltage ◽  
Tiger Salamander ◽  
Peak Voltage ◽  
Selective Suppression ◽  
Isolated Retina ◽  
Synaptic Gain

AbstractEffects of extracellular calcium on signal transmission between photoreceptors and horizontal cells (HCs) are studied in superfused isolated retina of the larval tiger salamander. Horizontal cell light response is optimal when extracellular Ca2+ is maintained between 1–2 mM. Ca2+ levels beyond this range in either direction significantly reduce the HC light response amplitude. When extracellular Ca2+ is lowered from 2 mM to 0.5 mM, the rod input to HCs is reduced whereas the cone input is not affected. In comparison, the peak voltage responses of rods are not changed whereas the cone voltage responses are enhanced in 0.5 mM Ca2+. The selective suppression of rod input to HCs is probably due to the interplay of three factors: (1) the photocurrents, (2) voltage- and time-dependent membrane currents in photoreceptors, and (3) the Ca2-dependent synaptic gain between photoreceptors and HCs.

Response sensitivity and voltage gain of the rod- and cone-horizontal cell synapses in dark- and light-adapted tiger salamander retina

1996 ◽  
Vol 76 (6) ◽  
pp. 3863-3874 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. L. Yang ◽  
S. M. Wu
Keyword(s):  
Horizontal Cell ◽  
Tiger Salamander ◽  
Voltage Gain ◽  
Average Response ◽  
Light Onset ◽  
Voltage Range ◽  
Response Sensitivity ◽  
Background Light ◽  
Average Value ◽  
Synaptic Gain

1. Rods, cones, and horizontal cells (HCs) were recorded in superfused, flat-mounted isolated retinas of the larval tiger salamander, Ambystoma tigrinum, under dark- and light-adapted conditions. 2. Under dark-adapted conditions, HC responses to dim 500-nm light stimuli were mediated only by rods. In the linear voltage range (near the dark potentials), the average response to a light step of 0.5 s (500 nm, 0.438 photons per micron2 per s) was 0.41 +/- 0.06 (SD) mV for rods and 1.86 +/- 0.52 mV for HCs. The step sensitivity of rods was approximately 0.94 mV per photon micron2 s, or 0.032 mV per activated rhodopsin molecule (Rh*) rod second, and the step sensitivity of HCs was approximately 4.25 +/- 1.19 mV per photon micron2 s or 0.14 +/- 0.04 mV per Rh* rod second. The chord voltage gain of the rod-HC synapse had an average value of 4.54 and a range from 2.68 to 7.32. 3. By the use of the spectral subtraction method, we found that the average cone-mediated HC response to a 750-nm light step that elicited an average cone response of 0.73 +/- 0.20 mV was 1.15 +/- 0.31 mV. The step sensitivity of cones under dark-adapted conditions was 0.0012 mV per photon micron2 s, and that of the cone-mediated-HC response was 0.0019 mV per photon micron2 s. The chord voltage gains of the cone-HC synapses under dark-adapted conditions had an average value of 1.58 and a range from 0.82 to 2.05. 4. Under light-adapted conditions (with a 500-nm/-2.40 background light, which desensitized rod responses but did not substantially reduce the cone responses), the cones had an average response to a light step of 0.5 s (500 nm/-3.3) of 0.78 +/- 0.09 mV, and this response did not vary with time. The HC response to the same light step had an average value of 3.95 +/- 3.41 mV 3 min after the background light onset, and it increased with time until reaching a steady-state value of 5.95 +/- 3.63 mV approximately 15 min after the background light onset. The average chord voltage gain of the cone-HC synapse under such light-adapted conditions was 5.06 at 3 min after background light onset and 7.63 at 15 min after background light onset. These values are approximately 3–5 times higher than the chord voltage gain of the cone-HC synapse under dark-adapted conditions. 5. The background-induced increase of the chord voltage gain of the cone-HC synapse suggests that similarly to the rod-HC synapse, the voltage gain of the cone-HC synapse in the tiger salamander retina can also be modulated by light. Additionally, our results suggest that certain time-dependent process(es) in the synaptic cleft or postsynaptic membrane may be responsible for such modulation. 6. In addition to determining the average values of response sensitivity and chord voltage gains of the rod- and cone-HC synapses, we studied the variation of these parameters among different HCs. HCs with higher rod-HC synaptic gain had lower cone-HC synaptic gain, and HCs with lower rod-HC synaptic gain exhibited higher cone-HC synaptic gain under both dark- and light-adapted conditions. This suggests that the rod-HC and cone-HC synaptic gains in HCs are complementary to each other, and voltage responses of all HCs under dark- or light-adapted conditions are of comparable amplitudes.

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