The topography of ganglion cell production in the cat's retina

Abstract

The ganglion cells of the cat's retina form several classes distinguishable in terms of soma size, axon diameter, dendritic morphology, physiological properties, and central connections. Labeling with [3H]thymidine shows that the ganglion cells which survive in the adult are produced as several temporally shifted, overlapping waves: medium-sized cells are produced before large cells, whereas the smallest ganglion cells are produced throughout the period of ganglion cell generation (Walsh, C., E. H. Polley, T. L. Hickey, and R. W. Guillery (1983) Nature 302: 611-614). Large cells and medium-sized cells show the same distinctive pattern of production, forming rough spirals around the area centralis. The oldest cells tend to lie superior and nasal to the area centralis, whereas cells in the inferior nasal retina and inferior temporal retina are, in general, progressively younger. Within each retinal quadrant, cells nearer the area centralis tend to be older than cells in the periphery, but there is substantial overlap. The retinal raphe divides the superior temporal quadrant into two zones with different patterns of cell addition. Superior temporal retina near the vertical meridian adds cells only slightly later than superior nasal retina, whereas superior temporal retina near the horizontal meridian adds cells very late, contemporaneously with inferior temporal retina. The broader wave of production of smaller ganglion cells seems to follow this same spiral pattern at its beginning and end. The presence of the area centralis as a nodal point about which ganglion cell production in the retinal quadrants pivots suggests that the area centralis is already an important retinal landmark even at the earliest stages of retinal development. This sequence of ganglion cell production differs markedly from that seen in the retinae of nonmammalian vertebrates, where new ganglion cells are added as concentric rings to the retinal periphery, and also bears no simple relationship to the cat's retinal decussation line. However, it can be related in a straightforward manner to the organization of axons in the cat's optic tract, suggesting that the fiber order in the tract represents a grouping of fibers by age.

Comparison of topographical patterns of ganglion and photoreceptor cell differentiation in the retina of the zebrafish,Danio rerio

“…In the chick, reconstruction of serial sections reveals retinal differentiation is initiated directly dorsal to the apex of the choroid fissure, which is slightly shifted from the center into the nasal retina (Rager et al, 1993). The initial site of ganglion cell differentiation in the cat also lies directly dorsal or dorsal-nasal to the optic nerve head (i.e., apex of the choroid fissure) located within the nasal-ventral quadrant (Torrealb et al, 1982;Walsh and Polley, 1985;Robinson, 1987).…”

Central projections of identified Drosophila sensory neurons in relation to their time of development

“…6, Jun. 1966al., 1976, and in the cat retina, different classes of ganglion cells develop in successive waves (Walsh and Polley, 1985;Walsh et al, 1983). It may well be a widespread principle, related in some way to the mechanisms that generate neuronal diversity, that functionally distinctive cells of the same general class have different temporal histories.…”

Retinal ganglion beta cells project transiently to the superior colliculus during development.

“…14) were made between E38 and E43. This period is just a few days after the last retinal ganglion cells have been generated (15,16) and shortly after the first axons of ganglion cells have reached their central targets (11,12).…”