A typology of photoreceptor gene expression patterns in the mouse

Joseph C. Corbo, Connie A. Myers, Karen A. Lawrence, Ashutosh P. Jadhav, Constance L. Cepko

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

80 Scopus citations

Abstract

Mutations in photoreceptor-enriched genes have been implicated in dozens of human retinal diseases, yet no systematic analysis of rod and cone gene expression patterns has been carried out. In addition, although cone photoreceptor loss accounts for much of the morbidity of retinal disease, relatively few cone-specific genes are known. In this study, we carried out microarray and in situ hybridization analyses of the mouse Neural retina leucine zipper gene (Nrl) mutant, which shows an en masse conversion of rods into cones, to establish a typology of photoreceptor gene expression and to identify novel cone-specific genes. We found a total of 18 new cone-enriched genes, some of which map near uncloned retinal disease loci. Several of these genes have a dorsal-ventral (D-V) pattern of expression similar to that of short- or medium-wavelength opsins. We carried out microarray analysis of dorsal and ventral microdissected WT retina and found additional photoreceptor genes with an asymmetric distribution. Overall, we found that photoreceptor genes fall on an expression spectrum from rod-specific to cone-specific, with many showing varying degrees of rod and cone coexpression. These expression patterns can be reliably predicted from microarray data alone. Our results demonstrate definitive molecular differences between rods and cones that may underlie the physiological differences between these two classes of photoreceptors.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)12069-12074
Number of pages6
JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume104
Issue number29
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 17 2007

Keywords

  • Blindness
  • Cone photoreceptor
  • Retina
  • Rod photoreceptor

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General

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