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Updated: Jun 19, 2026

Patch Clamp Recording of Starburst Amacrine Cells in a Flat-mount Preparation of Deafferentated Mouse Retina
Published on: October 13, 2016
NPR-C is expressed in the cholinergic and dopaminergic amacrine cells in the rat retina
Essam Mohamed Abdelalim1, Ikuo Tooyama
1Molecular Neuroscience Research Center, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, Shiga, Japan. essam@belle.shiga-med.ac.jp
Abstract:
Natriuretic peptide receptor C (NPR-C) is known to bind all natriuretic peptides with similar affinity. Given their biological role it is interesting that natriuretic peptides and their activated guanylate cyclases (NPR-A and NPR-B) are expressed in retinal amacrine cells. The purpose of this study is to examine the presence of NPR-C in the rat retina and its relationship to cholinergic and dopaminergic amacrine cells using immunofluorescence techniques. NPR-C immunoreactivity was found in several layers of the retina including the ganglion cell layer (GCL), inner nuclear layer (INL), outer plexiform layer (OPL), and inner segments of photoreceptors (IS). Immunofluorescence double-labeling showed the co-localization of NPR-C with tyrosine hydroxylase, a marker of dopaminergic cells, and with choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), a marker of cholinergic cells. These data suggest that natriuretic peptides may play a role in maintaining the retinal functions via interaction with NPR-C.
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