The retina of a newborn rabbit is not fully mature in terms of morphology, chemical composition or capabilities. Taurine is the predominant component of the free amino acid pool of vertebrate retinas. In the rabbit it is present at birth and increases four-fold by maturity reaching levels close to 50 mM in the adult. However, until the present studies its cellular localization was unknown. This study confirmed the postnatal (PN) increase in retinal taurine levels and examined PN changes in the immunocytochemical localization of retinal and optic nerve taurine. I have localized taurine immunoreactivity (taurine-IR) of developing and adult retinas and optic nerves using a highly specific antibody that was developed in our laboratory. / My localization results indicate that the PN quadrupling of taurine content is due not only to photoreceptor cell development but also to the transient and/or stable expression of taurine-IR in other cell types as they differentiate. Particularly striking is the localization in horizontal cells where it is a candidate for a trophic factor in early PN synaptic organization, and in adult retinas as the yet unidentified inhibitory transmitter. The transient localization of taurine-IR in ganglion cell axons within the retina and optic nerve corresponds in timing to the "critical period" for the formation of retinogeniculate connections. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.69756 |
| Date | January 1993 |
| Creators | Battista, Gloria |
| Contributors | Lake, Norma (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Physiology.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001351725, proquestno: AAIMM91879, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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