Opsin expression in the rat retina is developmentally regulated by transcriptional activation

The gene for rhodopsin, the primary light sensor of the visual system, is specifically expressed in the rod photoreceptor cells of the retina. We show here that in the rat, opsin RNA first accumulates to detectable levels at postnatal day 2 (PN2) and that nascent transcripts can be detected at PN1; this is the time when peak numbers of photoreceptor cells are generated by the final division of their neuroepithelial precursors. Accumulated opsin RNA then increases to reach the adult level, 0.06% of total retinal RNA, at about PN10. The transcription rate of the opsin gene increases to a similar extent over the same time course between PN3 and adulthood, suggesting that transcriptional activation is responsible for the increase in opsin expression. We used the antibody RET-P1 to show that rhodopsin protein is also detectable at PN2 and that the number of cells expressing the protein increases with time in a central-to-peripheral gradient in the retina. This increase in the number of differentiating photoreceptors in the tissue appears to account for much of the increase in opsin gene transcription and RNA accumulation. In situ hybridization to opsin RNA shows that it is restricted to the photoreceptor layer from the time it can first be detected, at PN7. Later in development, when RET-P1 staining shifts to the photoreceptor outer segments, opsin RNA becomes localized to the inner segments, suggesting that the distributions of opsin protein and RNA are related.