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Updated: Mar 20, 2026

Single-cell Profiling of Developing and Mature Retinal Neurons
Published on: April 19, 2012
Two Pairs of ON and OFF Retinal Ganglion Cells Are Defined by Intersectional Patterns of Transcription Factor
David L Rousso1, Mu Qiao1, Ruth D Kagan1
1Center for Brain Science and Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, 52 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Abstract:
Visual information is conveyed to the brain by axons of >30 retinal ganglion cell (RGC) types. Characterization of these types is a prerequisite to understanding visual perception. Here, we identify a family of RGCs that we call F-RGCs on the basis of expression of the transcription factor Foxp2. Intersectional expression of Foxp1 and Brn3 transcription factors divides F-RGCs into four types, comprising two pairs, each composed of closely related cells. One pair, F-mini(ON) and F-mini(OFF), shows robust direction selectivity. They are among the smallest RGCs in the mouse retina. The other pair, F-midi(ON) and F-midi(OFF), is larger and not direction selective. Together, F-RGCs comprise >20% of RGCs in the mouse retina, halving the number that remain to be classified and doubling the number of known direction-selective cells. Co-expression of Foxp and Brn3 genes also marks subsets of RGCs in macaques that could be primate homologs of F-RGCs.
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