Y-Like Retinal Ganglion Cells Innervate the Dorsal Raphe Nucleus in the Mongolian Gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus)

Authors

Liju Luan, Peking University
Chaoran Ren, Peking University
Benson Wui-Man Lau, The University of Hong Kong
Jian Yang, University of Hong Kong
Gary E. Pickard, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Kwok-Fai So, The University of Hong KongFollow
Mingliang Pu, Peking UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2011

Citation

Luan L, Ren C, Lau BW-M, Yang J, Pickard GE, et al. (2011) Y-Like Retinal Ganglion Cells Innervate the Dorsal Raphe Nucleus in the Mongolian Gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus). PLoS ONE 6(4): e18938. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0018938

Comments

Copyright 2011 Luan et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.

Abstract

Background: The dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) of the mesencephalon is a complex multi-functional and multi-transmitter nucleus involved in a wide range of behavioral and physiological processes. The DRN receives a direct input from the retina. However little is known regarding the type of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) that innervates the DRN. We examined morphological characteristics and physiological properties of these DRN projecting ganglion cells.

Methodology/Principal Findings: The Mongolian gerbils are highly visual rodents with a diurnal/crepuscular activity rhythm. It has been widely used as experimental animals of various studies including seasonal affective disorders and depression. Young adult gerbils were used in the present study. DRN-projecting RGCs were identified following retrograde tracer injection into the DRN, characterized physiologically by extracellular recording and morphologically after intracellular filling. The result shows that DRN-projecting RGCs exhibit morphological characteristics typical of alpha RGCs and physiological response properties of Y-cells. Melanopsin was not detected in these RGCs and they show no evidence of intrinsic photosensitivity.

Conclusions/Significance: These findings suggest that RGCs with alpha-like morphology and Y-like physiology appear to perform a non-imaging forming function and thus may participate in the modulation of DRN activity which includes regulation of sleep and mood.