Retinal neurotransmitters and synaptic circuitry

描述（由申请人提供）：本研究的长期目标 是为了阐明脊椎动物视网膜内的神经化学回路。 注意力将被给予谷氨酸受体分子的本地化， 定义突触部位，目的是了解这些受体 有助于视网膜内信息处理的重要任务。 包埋前和包埋后免疫细胞化学技术将用于 可视化离子型受体亚基（AMPA-、KA-和NMDA-选择性 类）以及猫视网膜中的代谢型谷氨酸受体。 将使用双标记方法来确定亚基的关联 在一个受体类别和受体类别的定位在突触 联系人.受体类别内亚基的共定位将 提供在标记位点可能的异聚体组装的指示， 受体在突触上的定位有着重要的意义 关于谷氨酸的可用性，以激活它们。 其他实验将利用单个双极细胞的细胞内填充， 神经节细胞结合受体免疫细胞化学来表征 谷氨酸受体分子组介导特定的细胞与细胞 联系人.这些研究将检验以下假设： 双极细胞在内网状层内保持其特异性， 接触其靶细胞上的一组独特的受体， 神经节细胞区分来自多种类型双极的输入， 细胞的基础上的差异受体内容在突触后 网站.

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The long-term objective of this research is to elucidate the neurochemical circuitry within the vertebrate retina. Attention will be given to the localization of glutamate receptor molecules at defined synaptic sites with the goal of understanding of how these receptors contribute to the vital task of information processing within the retina. Pre-embedding and post-embedding immunocytochemical techniques will be used to visualize subunits of ionotropic receptors (AMPA-, KA-, and NMDA-selective classes) as well as the metabotropic glutamate receptors in the cat retina. Double-labeling methods will be used to determine the association of subunits within a receptor class and the positioning of receptor classes at synaptic contacts. Co-localizations of subunits from within a receptor class will provide an indication of possible heteromeric assembly at the labeled sites and the positioning of receptors at the synapse has important implications regarding the availability of glutamate for their activation. Other experiments will utilize intracellular filling of individual bipolar and ganglion cells in combination with receptor immunocytochemistry to characterize the sets of glutamate receptor molecules that mediate specific cell to cell contacts. These studies will test the hypothesis that each subpopulation of bipolar cell maintains its specificity within the inner plexiform layer by contacting a unique set of receptors on its target cells and the corollary, that ganglion cells distinguish among inputs from multiple types of bipolar cells on the basis of differences in receptor content at the post-synaptic sites.