CREB-induced transcriptional activation depends on mGluR6 in rod bipolar cells.

To investigate the molecular mechanisms of stimuli-induced transcriptional activation in neuronal cells, we have investigated the light-induced gene expression in the neural retina of rats. The immunoreactivity for phosphorylated cAMP responsive element binding protein (PCREB-IR) was expressed in the outer half of the inner nuclear layer (INL) and the ganglion cell layer (GCL) after 5 min exposure to steady light also in mice. In addition to these cells, PCREB-IR was also detected in the inner border of the INL after 5 min exposure to flashing light. Both steady and flashing lights induced c-fos mRNA in the same types of cells as the PCREB-IR-positive cells. Majority of PCREB immunoreactive nuclei in the outer half of the INL were also immunopositive for anti-protein kinase C alpha (PKC alpha), a marker of rod bipolar cells, while CaM kinase IV immunoreactivity was not detected in these cells. PCREB-IR and c-fos gene expression in the PKC alpha positive rod bipolar cells were lost in mice lacking metabotropic glutamate receptor 6 (mGluR6). Thus, we propose that the transcriptional response of CREB to light stimulation in rod bipolar cells is regulated via mGluR6.

The mGluR6 5' upstream transgene sequence directs a cell-specific and developmentally regulated expression in retinal rod and ON-type cone bipolar cells.

We generated transgenic mice, using 9.5 kilobase pairs of the 5' upstream sequence from the mouse metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 6 (mGluR6) gene fused to the beta-galactosidase (lacZ) reporter gene, and investigated the promoter function of the cell-specific and developmentally regulated expression of mGluR6. Most of the independent transgenic lines commonly showed the lacZ expression in the defined cell layers of the retina, and four transgenic lines were characterized in detail for cell-specific lacZ expression patterns by X-gal staining and lacZ immunostaining. The lacZ-expressing retinal cells were classified into two cell types. One cell type was identified as rod bipolar cells on the basis of colocalization of protein kinase C (PKC) immunoreactivity and morphological criteria. The other cell type was PKC-immunonegative and resided at the cell layers corresponding precisely to ON-type cone bipolar cells. The latter bipolar cells were found to exist as a large cell population comparable to rod bipolar cells. This observation was confirmed by coimmunostaining of dissociated retinal cells with the lacZ and PKC antibodies. The ontogeny analysis indicated that the lacZ expression completely agrees with a temporal expression pattern of mGluR6 during retinal development. This study demonstrates that the mGluR6 5' upstream genomic sequence is capable of directing a cell-specific and developmentally regulated expression of mGluR6 in ON-type bipolar cells and supports the view that mGluR6 is responsible for ON responses in both the rod and cone systems.

Impairment of pupillary responses and optokinetic nystagmus in the mGluR6-deficient mouse.

Retinal bipolar cells receive glutamatergic transmission from photoreceptors and mediate a key process in segregating visual signals into ON-center and OFF-center pathways. The segregation of ON responses involves a G protein-coupled metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR). The mGluR6 subtype is expressed restrictedly at the postsynaptic site of retinal ON-bipolar cells. Ablation of mGluR6 in the ON-bipolar cells by gene targeting results in a loss of ON responses but unchanged OFF responses in visual transmission. Thus, mGluR6 is essential for inducing ON responses. The aims of this study are analyses of visual responsiveness and possible visual dysfunction in mGluR6-deficient mice. We report here that mGluR6-deficient mice have unaltered locomotor activity in a daily light-dark cycle and exhibit light-stimulated induction of Fos immunoreactivity in the suprachiasmatic nucleus. These findings indicate that mGluR6-deficient mice are capable or responding to light stimulation. The mGluR6 deficiency, however, markedly reduces the sensitivity of pupillary responses to light stimulus and severely impairs the ability to drive optokinetic nystagmus in response to visual contrasts. This study thus demonstrates that mGluR6 contributes to discrimination of visual contrasts.

Specific deficit of the ON response in visual transmission by targeted disruption of the mGluR6 gene.

Taking advantage of the restricted expression of metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 6 (mGluR6) in retinal ON bipolar cells, we generated knockout mice lacking mGluR6 expression. The homozygous mutant mice showed a loss of ON responses but unchanged OFF responses to light. The mutant mice displayed no obvious changes in retinal cell organization nor in the projection of optic fibers to the brain. Furthermore, the mGluR6-deficient mice showed visual behavioral responses to light stimulation as examined by shuttle box avoidance behavior experiments using light exposure as a conditioned stimulus. The results demonstrate that mGluR6 is essential in synaptic transmission to the ON bipolar cell and that the OFF response provides an important means for transmitting visual information.

Molecular characterization of a novel retinal metabotropic glutamate receptor mGluR6 with a high agonist selectivity for L-2-amino-4-phosphonobutyrate.

A cDNA clone for a new metabotropic glutamate receptor, termed mGluR6, was isolated from a rat retinal cDNA library by cross-hybridization with the previously isolated cDNA clone for a metabotropic glutamate receptor. The cloned mGluR6 subtype consists of 871 amino acid residues and exhibits a structural architecture common to the metabotropic receptor family, possessing a large extracellular domain preceding the seven putative membrane-spanning domains. mGluR6 shows the highest sequence similarity to mGluR4 among the metabotropic receptor subtypes and inhibits the forskolin-stimulated cyclic AMP accumulation in Chinese hamster ovary cells transfected with the cloned cDNA. mGluR6 potently reacts with L-2-amino-4-phosphonobutyrate (L-AP4) and L-serine-O-phosphate, and the potencies of these compounds are one order of magnitude greater than that of L-glutamate. Blot and in situ hybridization analyses indicated that mGluR6 mRNA is restrictedly expressed in the inner nuclear layer of the retina where ON-bipolar cells are distributed. The metabotropic receptor that responds strongly to L-AP4 and L-serine-O-phosphate in ON-bipolar cells is known to mediate glutamate synaptic transmission between photoreceptor cells and ON-bipolar cells. On the basis of the agonist selectivity of mGluR6 and its specific expression in retinal cells, the physiological role of this receptor subtype in the visual system is discussed.