Premium
Effects of prenatal ionizing irradiation on the development of the ganglion cell layer of the mouse retina
Author(s) -
Schmidt Sergio L.,
Vitral Renan W.F.,
Linden Rafael
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
international journal of developmental neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.761
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1873-474X
pISSN - 0736-5748
DOI - 10.1016/s0736-5748(00)00068-x
Subject(s) - retina , ganglion , ganglion cell layer , giant retinal ganglion cells , parasol cell , biology , population , retinal , inner nuclear layer , anatomy , microbiology and biotechnology , retinal ganglion cell , neuroscience , medicine , biochemistry , environmental health
Prenatal exposure to ionizing irradiation has been shown to be an effective method to eliminate selectively certain neuronal population. This investigation studied the effects on the ganglion cell layer of the retinae of adult mice exposed to a γ source (total dose=3 Gy) at 16 days gestation. There was a significant reduction in the total number of neurons (displaced amacrine+ganglion cells) in the ganglion cell layer (33%) that was mainly caused by a pronounced loss (59%) of displaced amacrine cells. The diameters of the surviving retinal ganglion cells were consistently larger than those of the controls. Prenatal irradiation is the first experimental approach that partially eliminates displaced amacrine cells. It is suggested that the morphogenesis of retinal ganglion cells may be affected by displaced amacrine cells.