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1Cole Eye Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio; 2Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona; 3Optical Sciences Center, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona; 4Abteilung Pharmakologie und Toxikologie, Institut fuer Pharmazie, Universitat Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria; 5Research Service, Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio; and 6Department of Ophthalmology, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
Submitted 8 February 2007; accepted in final form 17 March 2007
| ABSTRACT |
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4 subunit. To define the
1 subunit involved in this process, we examined mice lacking CaV1.3. In comparison with wild-type (WT) control littermates, LPs were reduced in CaV1.3/ mice. This pattern matched closely with that previously noted in lethargic mice, confirming a role for VDCCs in regulating the signaling pathway that culminates in LP generation. These abnormalities do not reflect a defect in rod photoreceptor activity, which provides the input to the RPE to generate the c-wave, FO, and LP, because ERG a-waves were comparable in WT and CaV1.3/ littermates. Our results identify CaV1.3 as the principal pore-forming subunit of VDCCs involved in stimulating the ERG LP. | INTRODUCTION |
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An alternative proposal for LP generation has been developed based on ERG LP recordings made after the systemic administration of nimodipine, an inhibitor of voltage-dependent calcium channels (VDCCs), and in lethargic mice, which carry a loss-of-function mutation in the VDCC
4 subunit. In both cases, the LP was reduced in amplitude, and in lethargic mice, the luminance response function was 1 log unit less sensitive, whereas the response functions for other ERG components were less affected (Marmorstein et al. 2006
; Rosenthal et al. 2006
). In the arterially perfused cat eye model, Hofmann and Niemeyer (1985)
reported that the LP was reversibly reduced when extracellular calcium concentrations were increased. Taken together with the results obtained in mice lacking best-1 and other results showing that bestrophin modulates the activity of VDCCs (Rosenthal et al. 2006
), these data suggest that the LP is generated by a calcium-sensitive chloride channel, whose activity is modulated by VDCCs, which are in turn modulated by bestrophin (Marmorstein et al. 2006
). This scenario indicates that similar results should be obtained from mice lacking the
1 pore-forming subunit that pairs with
4. Of the four CaV1 subunits, only CaV1.3 (CACNA1D) is known to be expressed in the RPE (Rosenthal et al. 2006
). In this study, we report LP abnormalities in CaV1.3/ mice that match those seen in lethargic mice, confirming a role for VDCCs in LP generation.
| METHODS |
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CaV1.3+/ mice on a C57BL/6J background (Platzer et al. 2000
) were obtained from a breeding colony located at Northwestern University and mated to generate the mice studied here. All procedures involving mice were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and were conducted in accordance with the Institute for Laboratory Animal Research Guide for Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. Mice were genotyped using PCR and were tested between 6 and 16 wk of age.
Stimulation and recording
After overnight dark adaptation, mice were anesthetized with a mixture of ketamine (80 mg/kg) and xylazine (16 mg/kg) diluted in saline. The pupils were dilated with 1% mydriacyl, 1% cyclopentolate hydrochloride HCl, and 2.5% phenylephrine HCl, and the corneal surface was anesthetized with 0.5% proparacaine HCl. Mice were placed on a temperature-regulated heating pad during the ERG recording session.
To measure ERG components generated by the outer neural retina, responses were recorded from the corneal surface using a stainless steel electrode that was wetted with 0.7% methylcellulose. Needle electrodes placed in the cheek and the tail served as reference and ground leads, respectively. Responses were differentially amplified (0.31,500 Hz), averaged, and stored using a UTAS E-3000 signal averaging system (LKC Technologies, Gaithersburg, MD). Responses were obtained to stimuli presented in the dark. Flash stimuli were presented in an LKC ganzfeld and ranged in intensity from 3.6 to 2.1 log cd s/m2; interstimulus intervals increased from 4 s at the lowest flash intensity to 61 s at the highest stimulus levels. Stimuli were presented in order of increasing intensity and at least two successive responses were averaged for each stimulus condition.
The amplitude of the a-wave was measured 8 ms after flash onset from the prestimulus baseline. The amplitude of the b-wave was measured from the a-wave trough to the peak of the b-wave or, if no a-wave was present, from the prestimulus baseline. Implicit times of the a- and b-waves were measured from the time of flash onset to the a-wave trough or the b-wave peak.
To measure ERG components generated by the RPE, responses were recorded from the corneal surface of both eyes using a pair of 1-mm-diam glass capillary tubes with filament (BF100-50-10, Sutter Instruments, Novato, CA) that were filled with HBSS to make contact with a Ag/AgCl wire electrode with an attached connector. Both electrodes were shielded in a black tube, and responses were differentially amplified (DP-301, Warner Instruments, Hamden, CT; direct-current (dc)-100 Hz; gain = 1,000 times), digitized at 20 Hz, and stored using LabScribe Data Recording Software (iWorx, Dover, NH).
White light stimuli were derived from an optical channel using a Leica microscope illuminator as the light source and delivered to the left eye with a 1-cm-diam fiber optic bundle; the right eye was shielded from light stimulation with a baffle constructed from black electrical tape. On a given day, mice were tested once using a single stimulus condition. Responses recorded to different intensity stimuli, used in recording sessions that were separated by several days, were used to construct intensity-response functions for each mouse. Maximum stimulus intensity (4.4 log cd/m2; corresponding to 4.8 log photoisomerizations/rod/s) (Wu et al. 2004b
) was reduced using neutral density filters (Oriel Instruments, Stratford, CT). Stimulus duration was controlled at 7 min using a Uniblitz shutter system.
The amplitude of the c-wave was measured from the prestimulus baseline to the peak of the c-wave. The amplitude of the fast oscillation (FO) was measured from the c-wave peak to the trough of the FO. The amplitude of the LP was measured from the FO trough to the asymptotic value. The amplitude of the OFF-response was measured from the LP asymptote to the peak of the OFF-response, which in mice could be either negative or positive in polarity, depending on flash intensity (Wu et al. 2004a
,b
).
| RESULTS |
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4 subunits have reduced LPs (Marmorstein et al. 2006
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| DISCUSSION |
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It is interesting to note that the abnormalities noted in CaV1.3/ mice resemble closely those noted previously in lethargic mice (Marmorstein et al. 2006
; Fig. 5), which carry a defect in the VDCC
4 subunit (Burgess et al. 1997
). Taken together, these results indicate that VDCCs play a role in generating the LP component. This conclusion is also supported by pharmacological studies where the VDCC blocker nimodipine was also found to reduce LP amplitude in WT mice (Marmorstein et al. 2006
) and rats (Rosenthal et al. 2006
). Because these studies examined only a limited range of stimulus conditions, it will be of interest to evaluate the effect of nimodipine and other agents that affect VDCC function across the intensity range examined here.
Because the LP is generated by the basolateral RPE membrane in response to light-evoked retinal activity, it is clear that LP generation needs an intracellular signaling pathway. Although this study contributes to our understanding of that pathway, further work will be needed to identify two key components. First, although the concept of an "LP substance," released by the neural retinal to a receptor on the apical membrane of the RPE, is generally accepted, the identity of this ligand has not been identified. Nevertheless, despite considerable effort to evaluate LP substance candidates (dopamine: Dawis and Niemeyer 1986
; Gallemore and Steinberg 1990
; epinephrine: Joseph and Miller 1992
; adrenergic agents: Quinn et al. 2001
; melatonin: Dawis and Niemeyer 1988
), none of these has received unequivocal experimental support. In comparison, adenosine has been shown to reduce the LP in the arterially perfused cat eye (Blazynski et al. 1989
), and adenosine receptors have been localized to the RPE (Blazynski 1993
; Friedman et al. 1989
). Although its role in LP generation remains to be determined, adenosine is known to regulate ATP-induced calcium-dependent intracellular signaling (Collison et al. 2005
).
Second, although the LP generator is known to be a chloride channel (Gallemore and Steinberg 1989
, 1993
), the chloride channel that underlies the LP has yet to be identified. As noted above, mice lacking bestrophin generate LPs of normal or supernormal amplitude (Marmorstein et al. 2006
), and rats overexpressing WT bestrophin have decreased sensitivity but no increase in LP amplitude (Marmorstein et al. 2004
). Thus despite a substantial body of in vitro evidence that bestrophin can form chloride channels (reviewed by Hartzell et al. 2005
), such function is not needed to generate the LP, and overexpression of bestrophin does not translate simply to larger LPs. Instead, the observations that VDCCs are needed for LP generation, together with prior data showing that bestrophin modulates the activity of VDCCs (Marmorstein et al. 2006
; Rosenthal et al. 2006
), indicates that the signal pathway culminating in chloride channel activation and LP generation is modulated by VDCCs, which in turn are modulated by bestrophin. Although cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) can form calcium-sensitive chloride channels (Anderson et al. 1991
), LPs are retained in CFTR-mutant mice, albeit with reduced amplitude (Wu et al. 2006
). Identification of the chloride channel(s) involved will be needed to complete a model of LP generation.
Finally, the body of evidence implicating VDCCs in generating the LP in rodents motivates the question of whether VDCCs play a similar role in the human RPE. It will be important to examine this question by, for example, using the electro-oculogram (Arden 1962
; Arden and Kelsey 1962
) to examine LPs in humans carrying VDCC mutations and/or after the administration of agents that alter VDCC function.
| GRANTS |
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| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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| FOOTNOTES |
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Address for reprint requests and other correspondence: N. S. Peachey, Cole Eye Institute (I-31), Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH 44195 (E-mail: neal.peachey{at}va.gov)
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