Credit: Wei Li, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health. Part of the exhibit Life:Magnified by ASCB and NIGMS
A series of experiments have succeeded in partially regenerating optic nerve cells in mice
There are multiple layers of cells within the eye responsible for capturing light information, and transmitting this visual data through the optic nerve to the brain. Among these are retinal ganglion cells, of which there are up to 30 types, and they effectively process the range of different visual information passed to them. These ganglion cells produce axons – projections that conduct and communicate electrical impulses. Axons are crucial for transmitting visual data to the brain; if this connection is severed the consequence is blindness. Regrowing connectionsEnd stage glaucoma. Credit: Heiko Philippin, Community Eye Health Journal Vol. 25 No. 79.80 2012 www.cehjournal.org
“Somehow these retinal ganglion cells’ axons retained their own GPS systems. They went to the right places, and they did not go to the wrong places”
Amazingly, this combination approach proved able to successfully transmit enough visual information for the mice to see an expanding dark circle, similar to the approach of a bird of prey, and run to a hiding place in response.Mouse retinal ganglion cell axons (magenta and green) extending from site of optic nerve injury. Credit: Andrew D. Huberman
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