Dendritic morphology of caudal periaqueductal gray projecting retinal ganglion cells in Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus)

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Abstract

In this study we investigated the morphological features of the caudal periaqueductal gray (cPAG)-projecting retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in Mongolian gerbils using retrograde labeling, in vitro intracellular injection, confocal microscopy and three-dimensional reconstruction approaches. cPAG-projecting RGCs exhibit small somata (10-17 μm) and irregular dendritic fields (201-298 μm). Sizes of somata and dendritic fields do not show obvious variation at different distance from the optic disk (eccentricity). Dendrites are moderately branched. Morphological analysis (n = 23) reveals that cPAG-projecting RGCs ramified in sublamina a and b in the inner plexiform layer. These cells exhibit different stratification patterns based on the thickness of dendritic bands in sublaminas a and b: majority of analyzed cells (16 out of 23) have two bands of arborizations share similar thickness. The rest of analyzed cells (7 out of 23) exhibit thinner band in sublamina a than in sublamina b. Together, the present study suggests that cPAG of Mongolian gerbil could receive direct retinal inputs from two types of bistratified RGCs. Furthermore, a small subset of melanopsin-expressing RGCs (total 41 in 6 animals) is shown to innervate the rostral PAG (rPAG). Functional characteristics of these non-visual center projecting RGCs remain to be determined. © 2014 Ren et al.

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Ren, C., Pu, M., Cui, Q., & So, K. F. (2014). Dendritic morphology of caudal periaqueductal gray projecting retinal ganglion cells in Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus). PLoS ONE, 9(7). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0103306

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