Müller Glial Cell-Provided Cellular Light Guidance through the Vital Guinea-Pig Retina

Agte, Silke; Junek, Stephan; Matthias, Sabrina; Ulbricht, Elke; Erdmann, Ines; Wurm, Antje; Schild, Detlev; Käs, Josef A.; Reichenbach, Andreas

doi:10.1016/j.bpj.2011.09.062

Cited by 92 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Interestingly, this result is consistent with the natural abundance of L-and M-cones, which accounts together for B90% of all cones 4,30 . As a result of the cup-like structure (endfoot) of the most proximal portion of Müller cell, red-green light impinging upon the retina is being gathered from a large retinal region of B20 photoreceptors, and concentrated onto a single central cone 13 . Consequently, a reduced light intensity propagates in the surrounding area, corresponding to the rods' receptive fields.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Müller cells separate between wavelengths to improve day vision with minimal effect upon night vision

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Vision starts with the absorption of light by the retinal photoreceptors-cones and rods. However, due to the 'inverted' structure of the retina, the incident light must propagate through reflecting and scattering cellular layers before reaching the photoreceptors. It has been recently suggested that Müller cells function as optical fibres in the retina, transferring light illuminating the retinal surface onto the cone photoreceptors. Here we show that Müller cells are wavelength-dependent wave-guides, concentrating the green-red part of the visible spectrum onto cones and allowing the blue-purple part to leak onto nearby rods. This phenomenon is observed in the isolated retina and explained by a computational model, for the guinea pig and the human parafoveal retina. Therefore, light propagation by Müller cells through the retina can be considered as an integral part of the first step in the visual process, increasing photon absorption by cones while minimally affecting rod-mediated vision.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A single Müller cell collects light at the vitreo-retinal surface from an extended retinal region, and guides it onto one coupled cone, located at its distal end 13 (Fig. 1a).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Müller cells separate between wavelengths to improve day vision with minimal effect upon night vision

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Fig. 6b; [1,6]). The next transition has been proposed to occur at the border between the OPL and the ONL, i.e.…”

Section: Light-guiding Cellular Elements In the Vertebrate Retinamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fig. 4a, b), while the membrane served as a screen to visualize the transmitted light [1,12]. These experiments allowed simultaneous observation of (i) the position of the optical fiber, (ii) the Müller cells in the living retina, (iii) the light scattering inside the tissue and (iv) the transmitted light [1].…”

Section: Light Guidance By Müller Cells Within the Native Retinal Tissuementioning

confidence: 99%

“…4a, b), while the membrane served as a screen to visualize the transmitted light [1,12]. These experiments allowed simultaneous observation of (i) the position of the optical fiber, (ii) the Müller cells in the living retina, (iii) the light scattering inside the tissue and (iv) the transmitted light [1]. When the laser beam did not directly illuminate a Müller cell, intraretinal scattering occurred (mainly in the IPL) and the transmitted light, visualized at the membrane, appeared as a wide spot (.…”

Section: Light Guidance By Müller Cells Within the Native Retinal Tissuementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

How light traverses the inverted vertebrate retina

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In our eyes, as in the eyes of all vertebrates, images of the environment are projected onto an inverted retina, where photons must pass through most of the retinal layers before being captured by the light-sensitive cells. Light scattering in these retinal layers must decrease the signal-to-noise ratio of the images and thus interfere with clear vision. Surprisingly however, our eyes display splendid visual abilities. This apparent contradiction could be resolved if intraretinal light scattering were to be minimized by built-in optical elements that facilitate light transmission through the tissue. Indeed, we were able to show that one function of radial glial (Müller) cells is to act as effective optical fibers in the living retina, bypassing the light-scattering structures in front of the light-sensitive cells. Each Müller cell serves as a ‘private’ light cable, providing one individual cone photoreceptor cell with its appropriate pixel of the environmental image, thus optimizing special resolution and visual acuity.

show abstract

Light‐Guiding Biomaterials for Biomedical Applications

Shabahang

Kim

Yun

2018

Adv Funct Materials

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Optical techniques used in medical diagnosis, surgery, and therapy require efficient and flexible delivery of light from light sources to target tissues. While this need is currently fulfilled by glass and plastic optical fibers, recent emergence of biointegrated approaches, such as optogenetics and implanted devices, call for novel waveguides with certain biophysical and biocompatible properties and desirable shapes beyond what the conventional optical fibers can offer. To this end, exploratory efforts have begun to harness various transparent biomaterials to develop waveguides that can serve existing applications better and enable new applications in future photomedicine. Here, we review the recent progress in this new area of research for developing biomaterial-based optical waveguides. We begin with a survey of biological light-guiding structures found in plants and animals, a source of inspiration for biomaterial photonics engineering. We describe natural and synthetic polymers and hydrogels that offer appropriate optical properties, biocompatibility, biodegradability, and mechanical flexibility have been exploited for light-guiding applications. Finally, we briefly discuss perspectives on biomedical applications that may benefit from the unique properties and functionalities of light-guiding biomaterials.

show abstract

Müller Glial Cell-Provided Cellular Light Guidance through the Vital Guinea-Pig Retina

Cited by 92 publications

References 20 publications

Müller cells separate between wavelengths to improve day vision with minimal effect upon night vision

Müller cells separate between wavelengths to improve day vision with minimal effect upon night vision

How light traverses the inverted vertebrate retina

Light‐Guiding Biomaterials for Biomedical Applications

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About