Rod Photoreceptor Activation Alone Defines the Release of Dopamine in the Retina

Current Biology : CB
Víctor Pérez-FernándezMorven A Cameron

Abstract

Retinal dopamine is released by a specialized subset of amacrine cells in response to light and has a potent influence on how the retina responds to, and encodes, visual information. Here, we address the critical question of which retinal photoreceptor is responsible for coordinating the release of this neuromodulator. Although all three photoreceptor classes-rods, cones, and melanopsin-containing retinal ganglion cells (mRGCs)-have been shown to provide electrophysiological inputs to dopaminergic amacrine cells (DACs), we show here that the release of dopamine is defined only by rod photoreceptors. Remarkably, this rod signal coordinates both a suppressive signal at low intensities and drives dopamine release at very bright light intensities. These data further reveal that dopamine release does not necessarily correlate with electrophysiological activity of DACs and add to a growing body of evidence that rods define aspects of retinal function at very bright light levels.

Citations

Jun 4, 2020·Annual Review of Vision Science·Robert J LucasTom Woelders
Jan 27, 2020·Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences : CMLS·Jacques VanderstraetenE Pascal Malkemper
Oct 14, 2020·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Shinya SatoMichiyuki Matsuda
Jan 28, 2021·Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science·Erica G LandisMachelle T Pardue
Nov 25, 2021·Journal of Neurophysiology·Michael D Flood, Erika D Eggers

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