title: The murine cone photoreceptor: a single cone type expresses both S and M opsins with retinal spatial patterning.
abstract: Mice express S and M opsins that form visual pigments for the detection of light and visual signaling in cones. Here, we show that S opsin transcription is higher than that of M opsin, which supports ultraviolet (UV) sensitivity greater than midwavelength sensitivity. Surprisingly, most cones coexpress both S and M opsins in a common cone cell type throughout the retina. All cones express M opsin, but the levels are graded from dorsal to ventral. The levels of S opsin are relatively constant. However, in the far dorsal retina, S opsin is repressed stochastically, such that some cones express M opsin only. These observations indicate that two different mechanisms control M and S opsin expression. We suggest that a common cone type is patterned across the retinal surface to produce phenotypic cone subtypes.
authors.affiliation: The Howe Laboratory, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA. mapplebury@meei.harvard.edu
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Applebury
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Antoch
authors.forename: L C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Baxter
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Chun
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Falk
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Farhangfar
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kage
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Krzystolik
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Lyass
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Robbins
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002452:Cell Count; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009928:Organ Specificity; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012160:Retina / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D017949:Retinal Cone Photoreceptor Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D017948:Retinal Rod Photoreceptor Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D017299:Rod Opsins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D020033:Protein Isoforms; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D017299:Rod Opsins