title: Distribution of vesicular glutamate transporters in rat and human retina.
abstract: Central nervous system neurons have traditionally been thought to express exclusively membrane transporters and/or vesicular transporters for their transmitter. Three vesicular glutamate transporters have recently been cloned: BNPI/VGLUT1 (a brain-specific sodium-dependent inorganic phosphate (Pi) transporter), and its homologs DNPI/VGLUT2 (differentiation-associated sodium-dependent Pi transporter) and VGLUT3. We investigated the subcellular distributions of these three vesicular transporters in rat and human retina. VGLUT1 was present in the outer and inner plexiform layers (OPL and IPL), as shown by punctate staining in both human and rat retina. In the OPL, it was colocalized with synaptophysin, consistent with its expression in glutamatergic photoreceptor terminals, and it was present in PKC-alpha-labeled glutamatergic bipolar cell terminals in the IPL. By contrast, VGLUT2 was present in horizontal cells and ganglion cells in rat and human retina. In human retina, VGLUT2 was also found in some amacrine cells, including GAD-immunopositive amacrine cells. VGLUT3 was present in glycine-releasing amacrine cells in rat retina but was restricted to a few ganglion cells in human retina. The distribution of VGLUT1 in excitatory synaptic terminal was consistent with its involvement in glutamate release at excitatory synapses, whereas the cellular distributions of VGLUT2 and VGLUT3 suggested that these molecules may be involved in functions other than glutamate release, such as glutamate storage for GABA synthesis in non-glutamatergic neurons.
authors.affiliation: INSERM U-592, Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris6, Laboratoire de Physiopathologie Cellulaire et Moléculaire de la Rétine, F-75571 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: Abdeljelil
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jellali
authors.forename: Jérome
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mutterer
authors.forename: José A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Sahel
authors.forename: Alvaro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rendon
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Picaud
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005136:Eye Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D005968:Glutamate Decarboxylase / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D012160:Retina / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D013347:Subcellular Fractions / Q000378:metabolism; D050598:Vesicular Glutamate Transport Protein 1 / Q000378:metabolism; D050599:Vesicular Glutamate Transport Protein 2 / Q000378:metabolism; D050496:Vesicular Glutamate Transport Proteins / Q000145:classification / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D005136:Eye Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C460879:SLC17A8 protein, human; C482103:Slc17a8 protein, rat; D050598:Vesicular Glutamate Transport Protein 1; D050599:Vesicular Glutamate Transport Protein 2; D050496:Vesicular Glutamate Transport Proteins; D005968:Glutamate Decarboxylase