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Melanopsin and non-melanopsin expressing retinal ganglion cells innervate the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 March 2004

PATRICIA J. SOLLARS ,
CYNTHIA A. SMERASKI ,
JESSICA D. KAUFMAN ,
MALCOLM D. OGILVIE ,
IGNACIO PROVENCIO  and
GARY E. PICKARD
PATRICIA J. SOLLARS
Affiliation:
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins
CYNTHIA A. SMERASKI
Affiliation:
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins
JESSICA D. KAUFMAN
Affiliation:
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins
MALCOLM D. OGILVIE
Affiliation:
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins
IGNACIO PROVENCIO
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy, Physiology, and Genetics, Uniformed Services, University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda
GARY E. PICKARD
Affiliation:
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins
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Abstract

Retinal input to the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) synchronizes the SCN circadian oscillator to the external day/night cycle. Retinal ganglion cells that innervate the SCN via the retinohypothalamic tract are intrinsically light sensitive and express melanopsin. In this study, we provide data indicating that not all SCN-projecting retinal ganglion cells express melanopsin. To determine the proportion of ganglion cells afferent to the SCN that express melanopsin, ganglion cells were labeled following transsynaptic retrograde transport of a recombinant of the Bartha strain of pseudorabies virus (PRV152) constructed to express the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP). PRV152 injected into the anterior chamber of the eye retrogradely infects four retinorecipient nuclei in the brain via autonomic circuits to the eye, resulting in transneuronally labeled ganglion cells in the contralateral retina 96 h after intraocular infection. In animals with large bilateral lesions of the lateral geniculate body/optic tract, ganglion cells labeled with PRV152 are retrogradely infected from only the SCN. In these animals, most PRV152-infected ganglion cells were immunoreactive for melanopsin. However, a significant percentage (10–20%) of EGFP-labeled ganglion cells did not express melanopsin. These data suggest that in addition to the intrinsically light-sensitive melanopsin-expressing ganglion cells, conventional ganglion cells also innervate the SCN. Thus, it appears that the rod/cone system of photoreceptors may provide signals to the SCN circadian system independent of intrinsically light-sensitive melanopsin ganglion cells.

Keywords

MelanopsinSuprachiasmatic nucleusRetinal ganglion cellCircadian rhythmRetinohypothalamic tractPseudorabies virus
Type
Research Article
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 20 , Issue 6 , November 2003 , pp. 601 - 610
Copyright
© 2003 Cambridge University Press

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