PHYSIOLOGY, ANATOMY AND CENTRAL CONNECTIONS OF THE PHOTORECEPTIVE GANGLION CELL

这个子项目是许多研究子项目中的一个 由NIH/NCRR资助的中心赠款提供的资源。子项目和 研究者（PI）可能从另一个NIH来源获得了主要资金， 因此可在其他CRISP条目中表示。所列机构为 研究中心，而研究中心不一定是研究者所在的机构。 我们的目标是表征一个独特的神经节细胞群，它含有一种新的色素，并且具有内在的光敏性;这些神经节细胞在诱导人类昼夜节律、驱动瞳孔光反射方面发挥着关键作用，也可能参与颜色感知。该项目标志着分析新的视觉通路和色素的第一步，以前在灵长类动物视觉系统中没有认识到。我们已经开始了一个合作项目，与King-Wai Yau，采用一种人抗体的推定的色素黑视蛋白，现在已经确定了这些神经节细胞在猕猴和人类视网膜的详细形态和空间分布。使用逆行光动力学，我们已经开始定义这些细胞的中心目标，显示这些细胞广泛的项目，以两个上级丘和外侧膝状体核以及顶盖前橄榄核。 我们有针对性的这些细胞在体外进行详细的生理分析，并具有其特征锥输入，杆输入和光谱调谐和动态的内在光响应。细胞内记录表明，这两个内在的和锥介导的信号收敛，赋予独特的亮度编码和色彩特性，这个神经节细胞。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The goal is to characterize a unique ganglion cell population that contains a novel photopigment and is intrinsically photosensitive; these ganglion cells play a key role in entraining human circadian rhythms, driving the pupillary light reflex and may also participate in color perception. This project marks the first steps in the analysis of novel visual pathway and photopigment, not previously recognized in the primate visual system. We have started a collaborative project with King-Wai Yau, employing a human antibody to the putative photopigment melanopsin, and have now determined the detailed morphology and spatial distribution of these ganglion cells in both macaque and human retina. Using retrograde photodynamics we have begun to define the central targets of these cells, showing that these cells project widely to both the superior colliculus and lateral geniculate nucleus as well as the pretectal olivary nucleus. We have targeted these cells in vitro for detailed physiological analysis and have characterized cone inputs, rod inputs and the spectral tuning and dynamics of the intrinsic light response. Intracellular recordings show that both the intrinsic and cone-mediated signals converge to confer unique luminance coding and chromatic properties to this ganglion cell.