Endogenous functioning and light response of the retinal clock in vertebrates

Abstract

Daily rhythms in behavior and physiology are programmed by a hierarchical group of biological clocks widely distributed in tissues and synchronized by the environmental day/night cycle. The retina is a remarkable model of circadian clock because it gathers photoreception, self-sustained oscillator function and physiological outputs within the same tissue. This clock plays a crucial function in adapting retinal physiology and visual function to the day/night changes and by regulating processes that are directly linked to retinal survival and phototoxicity. This article provides a comprehensive review of retinal circadian rhythms in vertebrates. Based on clock gene/protein expression, studies have shown that different cells within the retina are capable of generating sustained oscillations. However, this expression is divergent across vertebrate retinas with photoreceptors described as the primary site of rhythm generation in amphibians while in mammals, the current prevailing view is that each cell expresses the molecular clock machinery. First, we will present the molecular clock mechanisms at the origin of circadian rhythms, the retinal clock targets and then provide recent data about the mechanisms of light synchronization in an attempt to shed light on the role of the retinal clock in vertebrates.

Keywords: Circadian rhythms; Clock gene expression; Dopamine; Light; Melatonin; Photoreceptor; Retina.