PUBLICATION

Genesis of rods in the zebrafish retina occurs in a microenvironment provided by polysialic acid-expressing Müller glia

Authors
Kustermann, S., Hildebrandt, H., Bolz, S., Dengler, K., and Kohler, K.
ID
ZDB-PUB-100105-15
Date
2010
Source
The Journal of comparative neurology   518(5): 636-646 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Keywords
stem cells, development, rod precursors, photoreceptors
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Animals, Genetically Modified
  • Axons/metabolism
  • Axons/ultrastructure
  • Bromodeoxyuridine
  • Carrier Proteins/metabolism
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins/metabolism
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Neural Cell Adhesion Molecules/metabolism
  • Neuroglia/cytology
  • Neuroglia/metabolism*
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins/metabolism
  • Retina/embryology
  • Retina/growth & development
  • Retina/metabolism*
  • Retinal Rod Photoreceptor Cells/cytology
  • Retinal Rod Photoreceptor Cells/metabolism*
  • Rhodopsin/metabolism
  • Sialic Acids/metabolism*
  • Stem Cells/cytology
  • Stem Cells/metabolism
  • Zebrafish/embryology
  • Zebrafish/growth & development
  • Zebrafish/metabolism*
  • Zebrafish Proteins/metabolism
PubMed
20034055 Full text @ J. Comp. Neurol.
Abstract
Polysialic acid (polySia) is a posttranslational modification of the neural cell adhesion molecule NCAM, which in the vertebrate brain is dynamically regulated during development and crucially involved in developmental and adult neurogenesis. In the fish retina, new neurons are persistently generated, but the possible contribution of polySia has not yet been addressed. Here we used immunohistochemistry with NCAM- and polySia-specific antibodies to study spatiotemporal expression patterns of NCAM and polySia in the developing and mature zebrafish retina. As early as 2.3 days postfertilization (dpf), NCAM but not polySia was detected on cell somata and fibers of the developing retina. At 4.3 dpf polySia immunoreactivity first appeared in the ventral retina and was localized to the nascent outer nuclear layer (ONL). In mature zebrafish, polySia immunoreactivity in the ONL extended to the entire retina. Colocalization with rhodopsin-EGFP in transgenic zebrafish or the Müller glia-specific protein cellular retinaldehyde-binding protein (CRALBP) revealed that polySia immunoreactivity was confined to the compartment of radial Müller glia processes crossing the ONL and to a small band of processes positioned proximal to the horizontal cell layer of the mature retina. As shown by 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU) labeling, both newly generated rod precursors within the mature ONL and precursors of the marginal zone were polySia-negative. Thus, polySia-negative rod precursors of the mature zebrafish retina face a polySia-NCAM-positive microenvironment presented by radial Müller glia. In view of the prominent role of polySia in other neurogenic systems, this pattern indicates that polySia provides environmental cues that are relevant for the generation of new rods.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping