title: Photoreceptive net in the mammalian retina. This mesh of cells may explain how some blind mice can still tell day from night.
abstract: We have discovered an expansive photoreceptive 'net' in the mouse inner retina, visualized by using an antiserum against melanopsin, a likely photopigment. This immunoreactivity is evident in a subset of retinal ganglion cells that morphologically resemble those that project to the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), the site of the primary circadian pacemaker. Our results indicate that this bilayered photoreceptive net is anatomically distinct from the rod and cone photoreceptors of the outer retina, and suggest that it may mediate non-visual photoreceptive tasks such as the regulation of circadian rhythms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Genetics, and the Circadian Research Center, Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, Maryland 20814, USA. iprovencia@usuhs.edu
authors.forename: Ignacio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Provencio
authors.forename: Mark D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Rollag
authors.forename: Ana Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Castrucci
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology; D008322:Mammals; D051379:Mice; D010786:Photoreceptor Cells / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D017299:Rod Opsins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D013493:Suprachiasmatic Nucleus / Q000502:physiology; D000099210:Melanopsin
chemical_list: D017299:Rod Opsins; D000099210:Melanopsin