Work from the laboratory of Michel Cayouette, director of the Cellular Neurobiology Research Unit at the Montreal Clinical Research Institute (IRCM) and professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Montreal, published this month in the scientific journal Developmental Cell, reveal for the first time that photoreceptor cells in the mammalian retina exhibit planar polarity, that is, their light-sensitive cilia are oriented in a coordinated manner in the plane of the tissue. Furthermore, scientists were able to establish through this work that light is the source of this polarity during a critical period of development, which represents a new mechanism for cellular organization within an animal organism.
Light: from visual stimulus to vision optimization
Michel Cayouette
Credit: Montreal Clinical Research Institute (IRCM)
This discovery led by Michael Housset in the laboratory of Michel Cayouette, in collaboration with Dominic Filion, from the IRCM microscopy and imaging platform, is crucial because it shows that light does not only serve as a visual stimulus, it also acts on the spatial organization of the photosensitive cells of the retina at the moment when their visual function begins to take place. This advance modifies our understanding of the mechanisms controlling the development of the retina and the optimization of vision, and opens new perspectives on the potential action of light on the development of other tissues and organs. This polarity could also have a role to play in conditions linked to the retina, particularly in the context of population aging or degenerative diseases.
About Michel Cayouette’s laboratory
With multiple leading publications, Michel Cayouette’s laboratory strives to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the normal development of the retina and the appearance of diseases that alter its functioning with the aim of opening up the path to the development of innovative therapies to slow or reverse vision loss.
To find out more about the study
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