Melanopsin Is Expressed in PACAP-Containing Retinal Ganglion Cells of the Human Retinohypothalamic Tract

1 November 2004

journal article
Published by Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) in Investigative Opthalmology & Visual Science

Vol. 45 (11) , 4202-4209
https://doi.org/10.1167/iovs.04-0313

Abstract

Purpose. The putative circadian photoreceptor melanopsin is found in rodents in a subpopulation of intrinsic light-sensitive retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) constituting the retinohypothalamic tract (RHT). The study was conducted to determine whether melanopsin is expressed in the human retina and costored with the neuropeptide pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP), a marker for the RHT, projecting to the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). Furthermore, whether melanopsin expression is conserved in retinas of blind patients with severe retinal degeneration was investigated.

Keywords

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