title: Early appearance of nonvisual and circadian markers in the developing inner retinal cells of chicken.
abstract: The retina is a key component of the vertebrate circadian system; it is responsible for detecting and transmitting the environmental illumination conditions (day/night cycles) to the brain that synchronize the circadian clock located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). For this, retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) project to the SCN and other nonvisual areas. In the chicken, intrinsically photosensitive RGCs (ipRGCs) expressing the photopigment melanopsin (Opn4) transmit photic information and regulate diverse nonvisual tasks. In nonmammalian vertebrates, two genes encode Opn4: the Xenopus (Opn4x) and the mammalian (Opn4m) orthologs. RGCs express both Opn4 genes but are not the only inner retinal cells expressing Opn4x: horizontal cells (HCs) also do so. Here, we further characterize primary cultures of both populations of inner retinal cells (RGCs and HCs) expressing Opn4x. The expression of this nonvisual photopigment, as well as that for different circadian markers such as the clock genes Bmal1, Clock, Per2, and Cry1, and the key melatonin synthesizing enzyme, arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase (AA-NAT), appears very early in development in both cell populations. The results clearly suggest that nonvisual Opn4 photoreceptors and endogenous clocks converge all together in these inner retinal cells at early developmental stages.
authors: CIQUIBIC (CONICET), Departamento de Química Biológica, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Ciudad Universitaria, 5000 Córdoba, Argentina.
authors: Nicolás M
authors: NM
authors: Díaz
authors: CIQUIBIC (CONICET), Departamento de Química Biológica, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Ciudad Universitaria, 5000 Córdoba, Argentina.
authors: Luis P
authors: LP
authors: Morera
authors: CIQUIBIC (CONICET), Departamento de Química Biológica, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Ciudad Universitaria, 5000 Córdoba, Argentina.
authors: Daniela M
authors: DM
authors: Verra
authors: CIQUIBIC (CONICET), Departamento de Química Biológica, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Ciudad Universitaria, 5000 Córdoba, Argentina.
authors: María A
authors: MA
authors: Contin
authors: CIQUIBIC (CONICET), Departamento de Química Biológica, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Ciudad Universitaria, 5000 Córdoba, Argentina.
authors: Mario E
authors: ME
authors: Guido
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002645:Chickens; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D056925:Circadian Rhythm Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D020419:Photoreceptor Cells, Vertebrate / Q000502:physiology*; D012160:Retina / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology* / Q000502:physiology*; D017299:Rod Opsins / Q000378:metabolism*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology; D000099210:Melanopsin
chemical_list: D056925:Circadian Rhythm Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D017299:Rod Opsins; D000099210:Melanopsin