Immunohistochemical localization of chick retinal 24 kdalton protein (visinin) in various vertebrate retinae.

Antiserum against a protein (24,000 daltons, visinin) of chick retina has been provided for immunohistochemical study on the localization of visinin in chick retinae during development, as well as in various vertebrate retinae. The photoreceptor cells were stained with anti-visinin serum from 7th day embryonic retinae and its intensity was gradually increased with embryonic age. In addition, visinin-like immunoreactivity was found in some kinds of amacrine and displaced amacrine cells from 11th-day embryonic retinae. When human, cat, frog and carp retinae which contain both rods and cones were examined, staining of cone cells was clearly observed in the photoreceptor cell layer, but not in the rods. Furthermore visinin-like immunoreactivity was barely detectable in the photoreceptor cells of bovine, rat and mouse retinae containing mostly rod cells. These results suggest that visinin is mainly located in the cone cells in various vertebrate retinae and is a good marker for the cone cells.