title: Segregated Glycine-Glutamate Co-transmission from vGluT3 Amacrine Cells to Contrast-Suppressed and Contrast-Enhanced Retinal Circuits.
abstract: Since the introduction of Dale's principle of "one neuron releases one transmitter at all its synapses," a growing number of exceptions to this principle have been identified. While the concept of neurotransmitter co-release by a single neuron is now well accepted, the specific synaptic circuitry and functional advantage of co-neurotransmission remain poorly understood in general. Here we report Ca(2+)-dependent co-release of a new combination of inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmitters, namely, glycine and glutamate, by the vGluT3-expressing amacrine cell (GAC) in the mouse retina. GACs selectively make glycinergic synapses with uniformity detectors (UDs) and provide a major inhibitory drive that underlies the suppressed-by-contrast trigger feature of UDs. Meanwhile, GACs release glutamate to excite OFF alpha ganglion cells and a few other nonlinear, contrast-sensitive ganglion cells. This coordinated inhibition and excitation of two separate neuronal circuits by a single interneuron suggests a unique advantage in differential detection of visual field uniformity and contrast.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
authors.forename: Seunghoon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
authors.forename: Minggang
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA. Electronic address: jimmy.zhou@yale.edu.
authors.forename: Z Jimmy
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D025042:Amacrine Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D026922:Amino Acid Transport Systems, Acidic / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D005998:Glycine / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D009433:Neural Inhibition; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D012160:Retina / Q000378:metabolism*; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D013569:Synapses / Q000378:metabolism*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission; D014794:Visual Fields
chemical_list: D026922:Amino Acid Transport Systems, Acidic; D002118:Calcium; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D005998:Glycine; C504941:Slc17a8 protein, mouse