title: Visual properties of transgenic rats harboring the channelrhodopsin-2 gene regulated by the thy-1.2 promoter.
abstract: Channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2), one of the archea-type rhodopsins from green algae, is a potentially useful optogenetic tool for restoring vision in patients with photoreceptor degeneration, such as retinitis pigmentosa. If the ChR2 gene is transferred to retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), which send visual information to the brain, the RGCs may be repurposed to act as photoreceptors. In this study, by using a transgenic rat expressing ChR2 specifically in the RGCs under the regulation of a Thy-1.2 promoter, we tested the possibility that direct photoactivation of RGCs could restore effective vision. Although the contrast sensitivities of the optomotor responses of transgenic rats were similar to those observed in the wild-type rats, they were enhanced for visual stimuli of low-spatial frequency after the degeneration of native photoreceptors. This result suggests that the visual signals derived from the ChR2-expressing RGCs were reinterpreted by the brain to form behavior-related vision.
authors.affiliation: International Advanced Interdisciplinary Research, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan. hiroshi-tomita@iiare.tohoku.ac.jp
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tomita
authors.forename: Eriko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sugano
authors.forename: Yugo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fukazawa
authors.forename: Hitomi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Isago
authors.forename: Yuka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sugiyama
authors.forename: Teru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hiroi
authors.forename: Toru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ishizuka
authors.forename: Hajime
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mushiake
authors.forename: Megumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Masumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hirabayashi
authors.forename: Ryuichi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shigemoto
authors.forename: Hiromu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yawo
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tamai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D051379:Mice; D008954:Models, Biological; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D020419:Photoreceptor Cells, Vertebrate / Q000378:metabolism; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D051381:Rats; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D012243:Rhodopsin / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics*; D018800:Thy-1 Antigens / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D014785:Vision, Ocular
chemical_list: D018800:Thy-1 Antigens; D012243:Rhodopsin