Rousso David L, Qiao Mu, Kagan Ruth D, Yamagata Masahito, Palmiter Richard D, Sanes Joshua R
Center for Brain Science and Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, 52 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
HHMI and Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
Cell Rep. 2016 May 31;15(9):1930-44. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2016.04.069. Epub 2016 May 19.
Visual information is conveyed to the brain by axons of >30 retinal ganglion cell (RGC) types. Characterization of these types is a prerequisite to understanding visual perception. Here, we identify a family of RGCs that we call F-RGCs on the basis of expression of the transcription factor Foxp2. Intersectional expression of Foxp1 and Brn3 transcription factors divides F-RGCs into four types, comprising two pairs, each composed of closely related cells. One pair, F-mini(ON) and F-mini(OFF), shows robust direction selectivity. They are among the smallest RGCs in the mouse retina. The other pair, F-midi(ON) and F-midi(OFF), is larger and not direction selective. Together, F-RGCs comprise >20% of RGCs in the mouse retina, halving the number that remain to be classified and doubling the number of known direction-selective cells. Co-expression of Foxp and Brn3 genes also marks subsets of RGCs in macaques that could be primate homologs of F-RGCs.
超过30种视网膜神经节细胞（RGC）类型的轴突将视觉信息传递至大脑。对这些细胞类型进行特征描述是理解视觉感知的前提条件。在此，我们鉴定出一类RGC，基于转录因子Foxp2的表达，我们将其称为F-RGC。Foxp1和Brn3转录因子的交叉表达将F-RGC分为四种类型，包括两对，每对由密切相关的细胞组成。其中一对，F-mini(ON)和F-mini(OFF)，表现出强大的方向选择性。它们是小鼠视网膜中最小的RGC之一。另一对，F-midi(ON)和F-midi(OFF)，体积较大且无方向选择性。F-RGC总共占小鼠视网膜中RGC的20%以上，使得有待分类的细胞数量减半，已知的方向选择性细胞数量翻倍。Foxp和Brn3基因的共表达也标记了猕猴RGC的一些亚群，这些亚群可能是F-RGC在灵长类动物中的同源物。
