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The Journal of Neuroscience, October 15, 1999, 19(20):8919-8930
Role of Neurotrophin Receptor TrkB in the Maturation of Rod
Photoreceptors and Establishment of Synaptic Transmission to the Inner
Retina
Baerbel
Rohrer1,
Juan
I.
Korenbrot2,
Matthew M.
LaVail3,
Louis F.
Reichardt1, and
Baoji
Xu1
1 Howard Hughes Medical Institute,
2 Department of Physiology, and 3 Beckman
Vision Center, School of Medicine, University of California San
Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) acts through TrkB, a
receptor with kinase activity, and mitigates light-induced apoptosis in
adult mouse rod photoreceptors. To determine whether TrkB signaling is
necessary for rod development and function, we examined the retinas of
mice lacking all isoforms of the TrkB receptor. Rod migration and
differentiation occur in the mutant retina, but proceed at slower rates
than in wild-type mice. In postnatal day 16 (P16) mutants, rod outer
segment dimensions and rhodopsin content are comparable with those of
photoreceptors in P12 wild type (WT). Quantitative analyses of the
photoreceptor component in the electroretinogram (ERG) indicate that
the gain and kinetics of the rod phototransduction signal in
dark-adapted P16 mutant and P12 WT retinas are similar. In contrast to
P12 WT, however, the ERG in mutant mice entirely lacks a b-wave,
indicating a failure of signal transmission in the retinal rod pathway.
In the inner retina of mutant mice, although cells appear anatomically
and immunohistochemically normal, they fail to respond to prolonged
stroboscopic illumination with the normal expression of c-fos. Absence
of the b-wave and failure of c-fos expression, in view of anatomically
normal inner retinal cells, suggest that lack of TrkB signaling causes
a defect in synaptic signaling between rods and inner retinal cells.
Retinal pigment epithelial cells and cells in the inner retina,
including Müller, amacrine, and retinal ganglion cells, express
the TrkB receptor, but rod photoreceptors do not. Moreover, inner
retinal cells respond to exogenous BDNF with c-fos expression and
extracellular signal-regulated kinase phosphorylation. Thus,
interactions of rods with TrkB-expressing cells must be required for
normal rod development.
Key words:
retina; rod photoreceptors; development; c-fos; ERK
kinase; neurotrophins; BDNF; electroretinograms; A-wave
Copyright © 1999 Society for Neuroscience 0270-6474/99/19208919-12$05.00/0
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