title: Choline acetyltransferase-immunoreactive neurons in the retina of normal and dark-reared turtle.
abstract: Visual deprivation alters retinal-ganglion-cell response properties through changes in spontaneous wave-like activity (Sernagor and Grzywacz [1996] Curr Biol 6:1503-1508). This activity depends on cholinergic synaptic transmission in the turtle retina (ibid; Sernagor and Mehta [ 2001] J Anat 199:375-383). We studied the expression of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) by immunocytochemistry and Western blot in developing retinas of control and dark-reared turtles. At postnatal day 0 (P0), right after hatching, ChAT-immunoreactivity was present in the ganglion cell layer (GCL), in the inner nuclear layer (INL), and in two distinct bands of the inner plexiform layer (IPL). In P14- and P28-control, and P14- and P28-dark-reared retinas, ChAT-immunoreactivity showed similar patterns to those in P0. However, in P14- and P28-dark-reared retinas the density of ChAT-immunoreactive cells was higher in both the INL and GCL than in P14- and P28-control retinas, respectively. Moreover, Western blotting showed that ChAT protein levels were significantly increased in the dark-reared retina compared to those of the control. TUNEL studies indicated that the difference between normal and dark-reared conditions was not due to extra apoptosis in the former. In turn, proliferating-cell nuclear antigen immunocytochemistry showed no extra proliferating cells in the latter. Finally, nearest-neighbor analysis revealed that the denser population of cholinergic cells in dark-reared turtles formed a mosaic as regular as the normal ones in the GCL. Thus, light deprivation increases the expression of ChAT, increasing the apparent density of cholinergic neurons in the developing turtle retina.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Neuroscience Graduate Program, and Center for Vision Science and Technology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089-1111, USA.
authors.forename: Eun-Jin
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: David K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Merwine
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Padilla
authors.forename: Norberto M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Grzywacz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D003624:Darkness; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D020287:In Situ Nick-End Labeling; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D018809:Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D012160:Retina / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*; D012683:Sensory Deprivation / Q000502:physiology*; D014426:Turtles
chemical_list: D018809:Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen; D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase