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Using Mutant Mice to Study the Role of Voltage-Gated Calcium Channels in the Retina

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Photoreceptors and Calcium

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 514))

Abstract

Neuronal voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs) are critical to numerous cellular functions including synaptogenesis and neurotransmitter release. Mutations in individual subunits of VGCCs are known to result in a wide array of neurological disorders including episodic ataxia, epilepsy, and migraines. The characterization of these disorders has focused on channel function within the brain. However, a defect in the retina-specific a1F subunit of an L-type VGCC results is a loss of visual sensitivity or the incomplete form of X-linked congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB2). Based on the electroretinographic phenotype of these patients this channel type is localized to the axon terminal of photoreceptor cells and results in a loss of signal transmission from photoreceptors to bipolar cells. A mouse with a deletion of theß2subunit of VGCCs in the central nervous system was recently shown to have a similar phenotype as CSNB2 patients. The identification of the role of VGCCs in this disorder highlights the potential association of other VGCC mutations with retinal disorders. The study of the role of these channels in normal retinal function may also be elucidated by the characterization of retinal structure and visual function in the numerous knockout, transgenic, and naturally occurring mouse mutants currently available.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Service, Cleveland VA Medical Center, 10701 East Boulevard, Cleveland, OH, 44106

    Sherry L. Ball

  2. Cole Eye Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, 9500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH, 44195

    Sherry L. Ball

  3. Department of Psychology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland

    Sherry L. Ball

  4. Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, 40202

    Ronald G. Gregg

Authors
  1. Sherry L. Ball
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  2. Ronald G. Gregg
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Moran Eye Center/EIHG, University of Utah Health Science Center, 15 North/ 2030 East, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112-5330, USA

    Wolfgang Baehr Ph.D.

  2. Department of Ophthalmology, University of Washington, 1959 NE Pacific St., Seattle, WA, 98195, USA

    Krzysztof Palczewski Ph.D.

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© 2002 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Ball, S.L., Gregg, R.G. (2002). Using Mutant Mice to Study the Role of Voltage-Gated Calcium Channels in the Retina. In: Baehr, W., Palczewski, K. (eds) Photoreceptors and Calcium. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 514. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0121-3_26

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0121-3_26

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-4933-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-0121-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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