Intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells: many subtypes, diverse functions

For decades, rods and cones were thought to be the only photoreceptors in the mammalian retina. However, a population of atypical photoreceptive retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) expresses the photopigment melanopsin and is intrinsically photosensitive (ipRGCs). These ipRGCs are crucial for relaying lig...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Veröffentlicht in:Trends in neurosciences (Regular ed.) 2011-11, Vol.34 (11), p.572-580
Hauptverfasser: Schmidt, Tiffany M, Chen, Shih-Kuo, Hattar, Samer
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:Volltext
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:For decades, rods and cones were thought to be the only photoreceptors in the mammalian retina. However, a population of atypical photoreceptive retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) expresses the photopigment melanopsin and is intrinsically photosensitive (ipRGCs). These ipRGCs are crucial for relaying light information from the retina to the brain to control circadian photoentrainment, pupillary light reflex, and sleep. ipRGCs were initially described as a uniform population involved solely in signaling irradiance for non-image forming functions. Recent work, however, has uncovered that ipRGCs are unexpectedly diverse at the molecular, cellular and functional levels, and could even be involved in image formation. This review summarizes our current understanding of the diversity of ipRGCs and their various roles in modulating behavior.
ISSN:0166-2236
1878-108X
DOI:10.1016/j.tins.2011.07.001