Use of a culture system to identify possible causes of abnormal retinal development.

The aim of this study was to apply a recently developed cell culture system to the problem of identifying possible etiologies of altered retinal maturation. Using techniques of electrophysiology and neuropharmacology, it was possible to monitor the release of acetylcholine at synapses formed by cultured retinal neurons derived from the fetal rat. The major finding of this study was that the functional development of cholinergic retinal neurons of the fetus could be altered if the mother rat had been injected with a synthetic glucocorticoid hormone or stressed by cold exposure during a critical period in pregnancy. Thus, the maturation of at least certain fetal retinal neurons appears to be influenced by factors affecting the mother. The culture system described here provides a potentially useful approach to the identification and investigation of possible causes of abnormalities in the functional development of the mammalian retina.