| Title: |
Projection Targeting with Phototagging to Study the Structure and Function of Retinal Ganglion Cells |
| Authors: |
Bohlen, Martin O; Rudzite, Andra M; Daw, Tierney B; Kuczewski, Genevieve M; Spiro, Ergi; Hammond, Cassie; Rogers, Darienne R; Gallego-Ortega, Alejandro; Roy, Suva; Ritola, Kimberly; Sommer, Marc A; Field, Greg D |
| Source: |
bioRxiv |
| Publisher Information: |
eScholarship, University of California |
| Publication Year: |
2025 |
| Collection: |
University of California: eScholarship |
| Subject Terms: |
40 Engineering (for-2020); 51 Physical Sciences (for-2020); 4003 Biomedical Engineering (for-2020); Eye Disease and Disorders of Vision (rcdc); Neurosciences (rcdc); Biotechnology (rcdc) |
| Subject Geographic: |
2025.06.25.661576 |
| Description: |
Visual information from the retina is sent to diverse targets throughout the brain by different retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Much of our knowledge about the different RGC types and how they are routed to these brain targets is based on mice, largely due to the extensive library of genetically modified mouse lines. To alleviate the need for using genetically modified animal models for studying retinal projections, we developed a high-throughput approach called projection targeting with phototagging that combines retrograde viral labeling, optogenetic identification, functional characterization using multi-electrode arrays, and morphological analysis. This method enables the simultaneous investigation of projections, physiology, and structure-function relationships across dozens to hundreds of cells in a single experiment. We validated this method in rats by targeting RGCs projecting to the superior colliculus, revealing multiple functionally defined cell types that align with prior studies in mice. By integrating established techniques into a scalable workflow, this framework enables comparative investigations of visual circuits across species, expanding beyond genetically tractable models. Motivation: Visual information from the retina is distributed to diverse targets throughout the brain. Much of our knowledge about how visual information is processed and routed to these brain targets is based on mice because of the large library of genetically modified mouse lines. For most other species, such libraries are not available. Therefore, we were motivated to develop an approach for characterizing diverse retinal projections into the brain that can be applied to other species. We aimed to achieve projection targeting with retrograde viral vectors, followed by identification of circuit-specific retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) with optogenetics, functional characterization with multi-electrode array (MEA) recordings, and morphological description with in situ and confocal microscopy. The resulting high-throughput ... |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| Language: |
unknown |
| Relation: |
qt7jt049vc; https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7jt049vc |
| DOI: |
10.1101/2025.06.25.661576 |
| Availability: |
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7jt049vc; https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.06.25.661576 |
| Rights: |
CC-BY-NC |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.4A878706 |
| Database: |
BASE |