title: Retinal distribution of Disabled-1 in a diurnal murine rodent, the Nile grass rat Arvicanthis niloticus.
abstract: We sought to study the expression pattern of Disabled-1 (Dab1; an adaptor protein in the reelin pathway) in the cone-rich retina of a diurnal murine rodent. Expression was examined by western blotting and immunohistochemistry using well-established antibodies against Dab1 and various markers of retinal neurons. Western blots revealed the presence of Dab1 (80 kDa) in brain and retina of the Nile grass rat. Retinal immunoreactivity was predominant in soma and dendrites of horizontal cells as well as in amacrine cell bodies aligned at the INL/IPL border. Dab1(+) neurons in the inner retina do not stain for parvalbumin, calbindin, protein kinase C-alpha, choline acetyltransferase, glutamic acid decarboxylase, or tyrosine hydroxylase. They express, however, the glycine transporter GlyT1. They have small ovoid cell bodies (7.1 ± 1.06 μm in diameter) and bistratified terminal plexii in laminas a and b of the IPL. Dab1(+) amacrine cells are evenly distributed across the retina (2600 cells/mm(2)) in a fairly regular mosaic (regularity indexes ≈3.3-5.5). We conclude that retinal Dab1 in the adult Nile grass rat exhibits a dual cell patterning similar to that found in human. It is expressed in horizontal cells as well as in a subpopulation of glycinergic amacrine cells undetectable with antibodies against calcium-binding proteins. These amacrine cells are likely of the AII type.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gaillard
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
authors.forename: Sharee
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kuny
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada; Department of Physiology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada. Electronic address: ysauve@ualberta.ca.
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sauvé
mesh_terms: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing / Q000378:metabolism*; D025042:Amacrine Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002452:Cell Count; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D023421:Models, Animal; D051189:Murinae / Q000378:metabolism*; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D000091042:Reelin Protein; D012160:Retina / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; C499786:Dab1 protein, rat; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D000091042:Reelin Protein; C000717129:Reln protein, rat; C000717127:RELN protein, human; C000717128:Reln protein, mouse
keywords: Arvicanthis niloticus; Disabled-1; Nile grass rat; amacrine AII; horizontal cells; mosaic; retina; rod pathway