Part I. Morphological Classification Of Mouse Retinal Ganglion Cells Part II. Correlating Outputs Of Direction-selective Retinal Ganglion Cells

Morphological Classification of Mouse Retinal Ganglion Cells Wenzhi Sun (Neurobiology) Directed by Shigang He, Ph.DFive hundred twenty ganglion cells in an isolated whole-mount preparation of the mouseretina were labeled using the "DiOlistic" method and were classified according to theirmorphological properties. Tungsten particles coated with a lipophilic dye (DiI) werepropelled into the whole-mount retina using a gene gun. When a dye-coated particlecontacted the cell membrane, the entire cell was labeled. The ganglion cells wereclassified into four groups based on their soma size, dendritic field size, and pattern andlevel of stratification. Broadly monostratified cells were classified into three groups: RGAcells (large soma, large dendritic field), RGB cells (small to medium-sized soma, small tomedium-sized dendritic field), and RGC cells (small to medium-sized size soma, medium-sized to large dendritic field). Bistratified cells were classified as RGD. This studyrepresents the most complete morphological classification of mouse retinal ganglion cellsavailable to date and provides a foundation for further understanding of the correlation ofphysiology and morphology and ganglion cell function with genetically manipulatedanimals.