Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: This study was aimed to test whether an antiserum against AQP1 is available as a marker in the mouse retina, which is becoming an important subject for studies of mammalian retinal organization because transgenic approach has been accomplished to the mouse. Methods: Wholemount preparations and vibratome sections were double labeled using antisera against polyclonal AQP–1 (Chemicon 1:1000) and glutamic acid decarboxylase 67 (GAD67) (Chemicon 1:100) or glycine (Kindly provided from Dr. David Pow). Results: In the mouse retina, the AQP1 immunoreactivity was found in photoreceptors of the outer nuclear layer and in a certain type of amacrine cells of the inner nuclear layer, similar to the rat retina. Unlike AQP1–immunoreactive (IR) amacrine cells of the rat retina, however, AQP1–IR amacrine cells ramified their varicose processes through strata 3 and 4 of the inner plexiform layer (IPL) in the mouse retina. Double–labeling experiments with antibodies against AQP1 and GAD67 or glycine demonstrated that these AQP1–IR amacrine cells were immunoreactive for GAD67, but non–immunoreactive for glycine. Conclusions: These results indicate that AQP1–IR amacrine cells of the mouse retina make up a neurochemically and morphologically distinct subpopulation of the GABAergic amacrine cell population, and the AQP1 antibody can be used as a good marker to identify a specific GABAergic amacrine cell population in the mouse retina.
Keywords: retina: proximal (bipolar, amacrine, and ganglion cells) • amacrine cells • retinal connections, networks, circuitry