Dopamine D2 receptors preferentially regulate the development of light responses of the inner retina.
Retinal light responsiveness measured via electroretinography undergoes developmental modulation, and is thought to be critically regulated by both visual experience and dopamine. The primary goal of this study was to determine whether dopamine D2 receptors regulate the visual experience-dependent functional development of the retina. Accordingly, we recorded electroretinograms from wild-type mice and mice with a genetic deletion of the gene that encodes the D2 receptor raised under normal cyclic light conditions and constant darkness. Our results demonstrate that D2 receptor mutation preferentially increases the amplitude of the inner retinal light responses evoked by high-intensity light measured as oscillatory potentials in adult mice. During postnatal development, all three major components of electroretinograms, i.e. a-waves, b-waves, and oscillatory potentials, increase with age. Comparatively, D2 receptor mutation preferentially reduces the age-dependent increase in b-waves evoked by low-intensity light. Light deprivation from birth reduces b-wave amplitudes and completely abolishes the increased amplitude of oscillatory potentials of D2 receptor mutants. Taken together, these results demonstrate that D2 receptors play an important role in the activity-dependent functional development of the mouse retina.
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, 84132, USA.
Ning
N
Tian
Hong-ping
HP
Xu
Ping
P
Wang
D000818:Animals; D003624:Darkness; D004596:Electroretinography; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D008027:Light; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D010507:Periodicity; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D050637:Receptors, Dopamine D3 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012160:Retina / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology*; D012683:Sensory Deprivation / Q000502:physiology
C000600618:DRD2 protein, mouse; C493594:Drd3 protein, mouse; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2; D050637:Receptors, Dopamine D3
activity-dependent plasticity; dopamine D2 receptor; electroretinogram; light deprivation; retinal development