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Distribution and morphology of dopaminergic amacrine cells in the retina of the turtle (Pseudemys scripta elegans)

  • Published:
Journal of Neurocytology

Summary

A light microscopical study of the cell types that stain by immunohistochemistry for the synthesizing enzyme for dopamine, tyrosine hydroxylase, has been performed on the retina of the turtlePseudemys scripta elegans. The immunostain can be localized to a single morphological type of amacrine cell. The cells are like A28 cells of a Golgi classification. They have medium sized dendritic fields that range in diameter from 200 to 700 μm with eccentricity from the visual streak. The amacrines have a tri-stratified dendritic tree with tiers of fine, curved dendrites ramifying in strata S1, lower S2 and the S4/5 border of the inner plexiform layer. We, like others, can find no good evidence that these cells are interplexiform cells. The dopaminergic amacrine cells have a low frequency (approximately 1300–1500 total cells in 130 mm2 retina), with their highest density occurring in the visual streak (60 cells per mm2). The density profiles fall in elliptical isodensity rings from the visual streak towards the peripheral retina. At all points on the retina the dendritic fields maintain a constant coverage factor independent of eccentricity. A comparison of the dopaminergic amacrine cells in the turtle and other vertebrate retinae is made.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physiology Department, University of Utah School of Medicine, 84108, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

    Helga Kolb, Christine Cline & Hou Hua Wang

  2. Department of Anatomy and Medicine, Jules Stein Eye Institute, UCLA School of Medicine and CURE, Veterans Administration Center, 90024, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Nicholas Brecha

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  1. Helga Kolb
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  2. Christine Cline
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  3. Hou Hua Wang
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  4. Nicholas Brecha
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Kolb, H., Cline, C., Wang, H.H. et al. Distribution and morphology of dopaminergic amacrine cells in the retina of the turtle (Pseudemys scripta elegans). J Neurocytol 16, 577–588 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01637651

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01637651

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