Invisible light inside the natural blind spot alters brightness at a remote location by Marina Saito, Kentaro Miyamoto, Yusuke Uchiyama, Ikuya Murakami

“…These findings suggested that a photo-sensitive mechanism inside the optic disk, presumably involving the photopigment melanopsin, contributes to our image-forming vision and provides a ‘reference’ for calibrating the perceived brightness of visual objects.…”
Get full text

Neuroprotection and Axonal Regeneration Induced by Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Depend on the Type of Transplant by María Norte-Muñoz, Fernando Lucas-Ruiz, Alejandro Gallego-Ortega, David García-Bernal, Francisco J. Valiente-Soriano, Pedro de la Villa, Manuel Vidal-Sanz, Marta Agudo-Barriuso

“…Survival of vision forming (Brn3a+) and non-vision forming (melanopsin+) retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) was assessed at 3, 5 and 90 days after the lesion. …”
Get full text

Opsins as main regulators of skin biology by Ana Maria de Lauro Castrucci, Maurício S. Baptista, Leonardo Vinicius Monteiro de Assis

“…In mammals, opsins are classically associated with image-forming processes, a function exerted by cone and rod opsins. In early 2000, melanopsin was identified in the human retina as an important regulator of non-image forming events such as melatonin suppression, pupillary constriction, and circadian rhythm adjustment. …”
Get full text

Ontogeny of melanophore photosensitivity in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) by Shyh-Chi Chen, R. Meldrum Robertson, Craig W. Hawryshyn

“…Our results showed that, contrary to parr melanophores which are insensitive to light, smolt melanophores displayed chromatic photoresponses with the emergence of cryptochrome and melanopsin expression. We suggest that these modifications may benefit the active foraging behaviour of smolts and enable adaptation to variable environments.…”
Get full text

Light and the laboratory mouse by Peirson, S, Brown, L, Pothecary, C, Benson, L, Fisk, A

“…In mammals, responses to light are all mediated via retinal photoreceptors, including the classical rods and cones involved in vision as well as the recently identified melanopsin-expressing photoreceptive retinal ganglion cells (pRGCs). …”

The hypothalamic photoreceptors regulating seasonal reproduction in birds: A prime role for VA opsin. by Garcia-Fernandez, J, Cernuda-Cernuda, R, Davies, W, Rodgers, J, Turton, M, Peirson, S, Follett, B, Halford, S, Hughes, S, Hankins, M, Foster, R

“…Several candidates have emerged including rod-opsin; melanopsin (OPN4); neuropsin (OPN5); and vertebrate ancient (VA) opsin. …”

Recommendations for daytime, evening, and nighttime indoor light exposure to best support physiology, sleep, and wakefulness in healthy adults. by Timothy M Brown, George C Brainard, Christian Cajochen, Charles A Czeisler, John P Hanifin, Steven W Lockley, Robert J Lucas, Mirjam Münch, John B O'Hagan, Stuart N Peirson, Luke L A Price, Till Roenneberg, Luc J M Schlangen, Debra J Skene, Manuel Spitschan, Céline Vetter, Phyllis C Zee, Kenneth P Wright

“…A newly developed, international standard provides a SI-compliant way of quantifying the influence of light on the intrinsically photosensitive, melanopsin-expressing, retinal neurons that mediate these effects. …”
Get full text

Clock genes and behavioral responses to light are altered in a mouse model of diabetic retinopathy. by Hasna Lahouaoui, Christine Coutanson, Howard M Cooper, Mohamed Bennis, Ouria Dkhissi-Benyahya

“…There is increasing evidence that melanopsin-expressing ganglion cells (ipRGCs) are altered in retinal pathologies. …”
Get full text

Y-like retinal ganglion cells innervate the dorsal raphe nucleus in the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus). by Liju Luan, Chaoran Ren, Benson Wui-Man Lau, Jian Yang, Gary E Pickard, Kwok-Fai So, Mingliang Pu

“…The result shows that DRN-projecting RGCs exhibit morphological characteristics typical of alpha RGCs and physiological response properties of Y-cells. Melanopsin was not detected in these RGCs and they show no evidence of intrinsic photosensitivity.These findings suggest that RGCs with alpha-like morphology and Y-like physiology appear to perform a non-imaging forming function and thus may participate in the modulation of DRN activity which includes regulation of sleep and mood.…”
Get full text

Onecut1 and Onecut2 play critical roles in the development of the mouse retina. by Jillian J Goetz, Gregory M Martin, Rebecca Chowdhury, Jeffrey M Trimarchi

“…Additional profiling assays showed an upregulation of several stress response genes in the adult Onecut2 knockout, suggesting that the integrity of the retina is compromised in the absence of normal numbers of horizontal cells. Interestingly, melanopsin, the gene coding for the photopigment found in photosensitive ganglion cells, was observed to be upregulated in Onecut1 deficient retinas, pointing to a possible regulatory role for Onecut1. …”
Get full text

Photoreceptors and Circadian Clocks by Peirson, S, Foster, R

“…This system is composed of a subset of 'blue-light'-photosensitive retinal ganglion cells expressing the photopigment melanopsin. Subsequent studies have shown that these cells not only regulate the circadian system but also mediate a broad range of other irradiance-detection tasks, including pineal melatonin suppression and pupil constriction. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved.…”

Long wavelength light reduces the negative consequences of dim light at night by Huei-Bin Wang, David Zhou, Shu Hon Christopher Luk, Hye In Cha, Amanda Mac, Rim Chae, Anna Matynia, Ben Harrison, Sina Afshari, Gene D. Block, Cristina A. Ghiani, Christopher S. Colwell

“…Opn4DTA mice, lacking the melanopsin expressing ipRGCs, were resistant to DLaN effects. …”
Get full text

Altered light induced EGR1 expression in the SCN of PACAP deficient mice. by Casper Schwartz Riedel, Birgitte Georg, Jan Fahrenkrug, Jens Hannibal

“…Light entrainment occurs via melanopsin expressing retinal ganglion cells (mRGCs) and two neurotransmitters of the retinohypothalamic tract (RHT), PACAP and glutamate, which transmit light information to the SCN neurons. …”
Get full text

Photoreceptor contributions to the human pupil light reflex by Pablo A. Barrionuevo, Luis A. Issolio, Constanza Tripolone

“…In particular, how cone-opsins, rhodopsin, and melanopsin photoreception contribute to governing the PLR. …”
Get full text

Light-dark cycle synchronization of circadian rhythm in blind primates by Albuquerque Alex M, Silva Mayara MA, Araujo John F

“…<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Recently, several papers have shown that a small subset of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), which project to the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) and contain a new photopigment called melanopsin, are the photoreceptors involved in light-dark entrainment in rodents. …”
Get full text

Dendritic morphology of caudal periaqueductal gray projecting retinal ganglion cells in Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus). by Chaoran Ren, Mingliang Pu, Qi Cui, Kwok-Fai So

“…Furthermore, a small subset of melanopsin-expressing RGCs (total 41 in 6 animals) is shown to innervate the rostral PAG (rPAG). …”
Get full text

Insight into the role of photoreception and light intervention for sleep and neuropsychiatric behaviour in the elderly by Wulff, K, Foster, R

“…Rod and cone photoreceptors in the outer retinal layer are most important for imageforming vision, while non-image forming functions depend upon additional input from the photopigment melanopsin, which is expressed in retinal ganglion cells (RGC) that makes these cells photosensitive (pRGC). …”

A systematic comparison of optogenetic approaches to visual restoration by Gilhooley, M, Lindner, M, Palumaa, T, Hughes, S, Peirson, S, Hankins, MW

“…In this study, our aim was to compare two optogenetic tools: mammalian melanopsin (hOPN4) and microbial red-shifted channelrhodopsin (ReaChR) expressed within two subpopulations of surviving cells in a degenerate retina. …”

Destructive Changes in the Neuronal Structure of the FVB/N Mouse Retina. by Jinnan Yang, ChangLong Nan, Harris Ripps, Wen Shen

“…The cellular structure of inner retinal neurons, i.e., ChAT amacrine cells, ganglion cells, and melanopsin-positive ganglion cells did not exhibit any gross changes of cell densities and appeared to be relatively unaffected by the massive photoreceptor degeneration in the distal retina. …”
Get full text

Immediate responses to ambient light in vivo reveal distinct subpopulations of suprachiasmatic VIP neurons by Anat Kahan, Karan Mahe, Sayan Dutta, Pegah Kassraian, Alexander Wang, Viviana Gradinaru

“…Yet, how these neurons uniquely respond and connect to intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) expressing melanopsin (Opn4) has not been determined functionally in freely behaving animals. …”
Get full text