Changes in intrinsic excitability of ganglion cells in degenerated retinas of RCS rats
Author:
Corresponding Author:

Cong-Jian Zhao and Zheng-Qin Yin. Southwest Hospital/Southwest Eye Hospital, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University), Chongqing 400038, China. cj.zhao@yahoo.com; qinzyin@aliyun.com

Affiliation:

Clc Number:

Fund Project:

Supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program, No.2013CB967002); the Military Key Program (No.BWS13C015); the Chongqing International Cooperation Key Projects (No.CSTC2013GJHZ10004).

  • Article
  • |
  • Figures
  • |
  • Metrics
  • |
  • Reference
  • |
  • Related
  • |
  • Cited by
  • |
  • Materials
  • |
  • Comments
    Abstract:

    AIM: To evaluate the intrinsic excitability of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in degenerated retinas. METHODS: The intrinsic excitability of various morphologically defined RGC types using a combination of patch-clamp recording and the Lucifer yellow tracer in retinal whole-mount preparations harvested from Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rats, a common retinitis pigmentosa (RP) model, in a relatively late stage of retinal degeneration (P90) were investigated. Several parameters of RGC morphologies and action potentials (APs) were measured and compared to those of non-dystrophic control rats, including dendritic stratification, dendritic field diameter, peak amplitude, half width, resting membrane potential, AP threshold, depolarization to threshold, and firing rates. RESULTS: Compared with non-dystrophic control RGCs, more depolarizations were required to reach the AP threshold in RCS RGCs with low spontaneous spike rates and in RCS OFF cells (especially A2o cells), and RCS RGCs maintained their dendritic morphologies, resting membrane potentials and capabilities to generate APs. CONCLUSION: RGCs are relatively well preserved morphologically and functionally, and some cells are more susceptible to decreased excitability during retinal degeneration. These findings provide valuable considerations for optimizing RP therapeutic strategies.

    Reference
    Related
    Cited by
Get Citation

Yi-Ming Ren, Chuan-Huang Weng, Cong-Jian Zhao, et al. Changes in intrinsic excitability of ganglion cells in degenerated retinas of RCS rats. Int J Ophthalmol, 2018,11(5):756-765

Copy
Share
Article Metrics
  • Abstract:
  • PDF:
  • HTML:
  • Cited by:
Publication History
  • Received:February 04,2018
  • Revised:March 16,2018
  • Adopted:
  • Online: May 11,2018
  • Published: