The neural substrate subserving magnetoreception and magnetic orientation in mammals is largely unknown. Previous experiments have demonstrated that the processing of magnetic sensory information takes place in the superior colliculus. Here, the effects of magnetic field conditions on neuronal activity in the rodent navigation circuit were assessed by quantifying c-Fos expression. Ansell's mole-rats (Fukomys anselli), a mammalian model to study the mechanisms of magnetic compass orientation, were subjected to natural, periodically changing, and shielded magnetic fields while exploring an unfamiliar circular arena. In the undisturbed local geomagnetic field, the exploration of the novel environment and/or nesting behaviour induced c-Fos expression throughout the head direction system and the entorhinal-hippocampal spatial representation system. This induction was significantly suppressed by exposure to periodically changing and/or shielded magnetic fields; discrete decreases in c-Fos were seen in the dorsal tegmental nucleus, the anterodorsal and the laterodorsal thalamic nuclei, the postsubiculum, the retrosplenial and entorhinal cortices, and the hippocampus. Moreover, in inactive animals, magnetic field intensity manipulation suppressed c-Fos expression in the CA1 and CA3 fields of the hippocampus and the dorsal subiculum, but induced expression in the polymorph layer of the dentate gyrus. These findings suggest that key constituents of the rodent navigation circuit contain populations of neurons responsive to magnetic stimuli. Thus, magnetic information may be integrated with multimodal sensory and motor information into a common spatial representation of allocentric space within this circuit.

• MeSH
• chování zvířat MeSH
• čití, cítění genetika   fyziologie   MeSH
• colliculus superior metabolismus   MeSH
• gyrus dentatus metabolismus   MeSH
• hipokampus metabolismus   MeSH
• magnetismus MeSH
• mikroftalmičtí podzemní hlodavci genetika   metabolismus   fyziologie   MeSH
• nervové dráhy fyziologie   MeSH
• orientace MeSH
• protoonkogenní proteiny c-fos genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• somatosenzorické korové centrum metabolismus   MeSH
• vnímání prostoru fyziologie   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

In the vertebrate retina, amacrine and ganglion cells represent the most diverse cell classes. They can be classified into different cell types by several features, such as morphology, light responses, and gene expression profile. Although birds possess high visual acuity (similar to primates that we used here for comparison) and tetrachromatic color vision, data on the expression of transcription factors in retinal ganglion cells of birds are largely missing. In this study, we tested various transcription factors, known to label subpopulations of cells in mammalian retinae, in two avian species: the common buzzard (Buteo buteo), a raptor with exceptional acuity, and the domestic pigeon (Columba livia domestica), a good navigator and widely used model for visual cognition. Staining for the transcription factors Foxp2, Satb1 and Satb2 labeled most ganglion cells in the avian ganglion cell layer. CtBP2 was established as marker for displaced amacrine cells, which allowed us to reliably distinguish ganglion cells from displaced amacrine cells and assess their densities in buzzard and pigeon. When we additionally compared the temporal and central fovea of the buzzard with the fovea of primates, we found that the cellular organization in the pits was different in primates and raptors. In summary, we demonstrate that the expression of transcription factors is a defining feature of cell types not only in the retina of mammals but also in the retina of birds. The markers, which we have established, may provide useful tools for more detailed studies on the retinal circuitry of these highly visual animals.

• MeSH
• amakrinní buňky chemie   metabolismus   MeSH
• Callithrix MeSH
• Columbidae MeSH
• druhová specificita MeSH
• retina chemie   cytologie   metabolismus   MeSH
• transkripční faktory analýza   biosyntéza   genetika   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• srovnávací studie MeSH

• Klíčová slova
• věda - aplikace - sborníky prací, Rolex cena - práce vědecké - laureáti pro rok 1987 - sborníky prací,

• Konspekt
• Biologické vědy
• NLK Obory
• biologie
• věda a výzkum
• environmentální vědy

• MeSH
• biologie buňky MeSH
• buněčný cyklus MeSH
• buňky MeSH
• Publikační typ
• monografie MeSH

• Konspekt
• Buněčná biologie. Cytologie
• NLK Obory
• biologie