The labeling of the retina and optic tectum gangliosides and glycoproteins of chickens in darkness or exposed to light.

Chickens that received an intraocular injection of 3H-ManNAc and were exposed to light had more labeled gangliosides in the retina ganglion cell layer and in the contralateral optic tectum than similarly treated animals that remained in darkness. The effect is not due to the turning on or off of the light. The sialyl groups of sialoglycoproteins showed similar effect but the labeling of proteins in chickens that received 3H-proline did not show significant differences. So far the effect has been obtained only with retina linked to the optic tectum through the optic nerve. If the nerve is severed the effect disappears. The gangliosides GD1a and GT1 are powerful inhibitors of the GM3-N-acetylgalactosaminyl transferase. The main effect of those gangliosides is expressed when they are linked to the membranes containing the enzyme in such a form that they are not released by washing with water. The hypothesis is advanced that the utilization of gangliosides in the nerve ending during the interneuronal transmission produces a small decrease in their concentration that in turn is transmitted backwards to the neuronal perikarya where it accelerates the synthesis of new gangliosides.