IMAGE-SENSING MECHANISMS IN THE VERTEBRATE RETINA

Cell communication mechanisms in the vertebrate retina the proctor lecture.

The vertebrate retina has a unique position within the panoply of the nervous system networks: Our understanding of its complex circuitry of interacting neurons and glia has become the gold standard of our current knowledge of network operations. This presentation is about work from my laboratory that contributed to some of the concepts that support our contemporary views of the functional reti...

Cell fate determination in the vertebrate retina.

The vertebrate retina is a well-characterized and tractable model for studying neurogenesis. Retinal neurons and glia are generated in a conserved sequence from a pool of multipotent progenitor cells, and numerous cell fate determinants for the different classes of retinal cell types have been identified. Here, we summarize several recent developments in the field that have advanced understandi...

Cell death in the developing vertebrate retina.

Programmed cell death occurs naturally, as a physiological process, during the embryonic development of multicellular organisms. In the retina, which belongs to the central nervous system, at least two phases of cell death have been reported to occur during development. An early phase takes place concomitant with the processes of neurogenesis, cell migration and cell differentiation. A later ph...

Degeneration and Regeneration in the Vertebrate Retina

Ephaptic communication in the vertebrate retina

In the vertebrate retina, cones project to the horizontal cells (HCs) and bipolar cells (BCs). The communication between cones and HCs uses both chemical and ephaptic mechanisms. Cones release glutamate in a Ca(2+)-dependent manner, while HCs feed back to cones via an ephaptic mechanism. Hyperpolarization of HCs leads to an increased current through connexin hemichannels located on the tips of ...