Sagar S M, Marshall P E
Neurology Service, Veterans Administration Medical Center, San Francisco, CA 94121.
Neuroscience. 1988 Nov;27(2):507-16. doi: 10.1016/0306-4522(88)90284-9.
The retinal ganglion cell is classically viewed as the output cell of the retina, sending a single axon via the optic nerve to synapse in visual relay nuclei of the brain. However, some ganglion cells, termed associational ganglion cells, have axons which do not leave the retina and presumably serve intraretinal communication. Using high-affinity and specific monoclonal antibodies to somatostatin-14 and the avidin-biotin-peroxidase immunohistochemical procedure, somatostatin-immunoreactive associational ganglion cells are specifically stained in human retinas obtained at necropsy. These cells are more numerous in the inferior than the superior retina; they have dendrites which ramify in the inner plexiform layer; and they have sparsely branching axons, many of which can be traced over 1 cm. These axons do not enter the optic nerve. They follow remarkably straight courses at the border of the inner plexiform layer and ganglion cell layer and thereby form a gridwork of fibers covering the entire retinal area. These observations verify the existence of associational ganglion cells in the human and establish somatostatin as a neurotransmitter or neuromodulator candidate for these neurons. The morphology of these cells suggests that they are involved in long-distance interactions within the retina.
视网膜神经节细胞传统上被视为视网膜的输出细胞，通过视神经发送单个轴突，在大脑的视觉中继核中形成突触。然而，一些神经节细胞，称为联合神经节细胞，其轴突并不离开视网膜，大概是用于视网膜内的通讯。使用针对生长抑素-14的高亲和力和特异性单克隆抗体以及抗生物素蛋白-生物素-过氧化物酶免疫组织化学方法，在尸检时获得的人类视网膜中，生长抑素免疫反应性联合神经节细胞被特异性染色。这些细胞在下半视网膜中比上半视网膜中更多；它们具有在内网状层中分支的树突；并且它们具有稀疏分支的轴突，其中许多轴突可以追踪超过1厘米。这些轴突不进入视神经。它们在内网状层和神经节细胞层的边界处沿着非常笔直的路径延伸，从而形成覆盖整个视网膜区域的纤维网格。这些观察结果证实了人类中联合神经节细胞的存在，并确定生长抑素作为这些神经元的神经递质或神经调节剂候选物。这些细胞的形态表明它们参与视网膜内的长距离相互作用。
