Spatiotemporal development of the fish retina: distribution of calbindin D-28K

Using antibodies to the calcium-binding protein calbindin (CB), we have studied the embryonic and postnatal development of retinal cells using the trout as an animal model. Our results reveal that the time course of expression of CB parallels the vitreal to scleral progression of differentiation of the teleost retina. The maturation of the retina also follows a spatial, centro-peripheral gradient of CB-expression with peripheral regions of the more mature retina undergoing maturation processes characteristic of the central retina of younger animals. Moreover, CB-expression within the optic tectum and the further lamination of this centre starts to take place only after the labeled ganglion cell axons arrived at the tectum.