Cellular localization of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (NOS-1) in the human and rat retina

✍ Scribed by Neufeld, Arthur H.; Shareef, Shakeel; Pena, Janethe

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 952 KB
• Volume: 416
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-9967
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1096-9861(20000110)416:2<269::aid-cne11>3.0.co;2-2

✦ Synopsis

The neuronal form of nitric oxide synthase (NOS-1) has been localized to several cell types in the retinas of experimental animals; however, localization in the human retina has not been definitive. By using in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry, we have compared the cellular expression and localization of NOS-1 in the rat and human retinas. In both rat and human retinas, NOS-1 is expressed in the inner segments of photoreceptors, cells in the inner nuclear layer, particularly amacrine cells, and retinal ganglion cells. In human cones, NOS-1 is abundantly present in the outer segments. In the rat, optic nerve transection caused a loss of cells that were positive for NOS-1 in the ganglion cell layer. Although a retinal ganglion cell localization has not been reported consistently in the literature, our data clearly localize NOS-1 to the retinal ganglion cells of the rat and human retinas.