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Biomedical subjects

A V Whitmore

Publications and source records attributed to A V Whitmore.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Asymmetric segregation of Numb in retinal development and the influence of the pigmented epithelium.

Asymmetric segregation of cell-fate determinants during cytokinesis plays an important part in controlling cell-fate choice in invertebrates. During Drosophila neurogenesis, for example, asymmetric segregation of the Numb protein, which inhibits Notch signaling, is necessary for the two daughter cells of a division to have different fates. In vertebrates, the role of asymmetric segregation of cell-fate determinants is uncertain, and the way the process might be regulated is unknown. We have studied the orientation of cell divisions and the distribution of Numb in the developing rat retina. We show that, whereas most retinal neuroepithelial cells divide with their mitotic spindles oriented parallel to the plane of the neuroepithelium, a substantial minority divides with their spindles oriented perpendicularly. The proportion of these vertically dividing cells changes during development, peaking around the day of birth. Numb appears to be inherited only by the apical daughter cell when a neuroepithelial cell divides vertically. Similarly, in dissociated cell cultures, some retinal neuroepithelial cells divide asymmetrically and distribute Numb to only one of the two daughter cells, suggesting that the dissociated cells can retain their polarity in vitro. Using retinal explant cultures, we find that the retinal pigment epithelium apparently promotes vertical divisions in the neural retina. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence that asymmetric segregation of cell-fate determinants may contribute to cell diversification in the mammalian retina and that an epithelium controls this process by influencing the plane of division in the adjacent neural retina.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Differences in the temporal properties of human longwave- and middlewave-sensitive cones.

In recent years a number of electrophysiological and psychophysical observations have suggested that the temporal properties of the human longwave- and middlewave-sensitive cones might be different. However, until now the issue has remained unresolved, despite its obvious importance. We have succeeded in probing, electrophysiologically, the temporal properties of the two classes, under a range of adapting conditions, in a normal human observer. Here we present evidence that the temporal properties of these cone types are indeed different and that this difference is constant irrespective of the state of light adaptation, suggesting that light adaptation has little effect on the kinetics of transduction in human cones.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Visual pigments and oil droplets in genetically manipulated and carotenoid deprived quail: a microspectrophotometric study.

The spectral absorbances of visual pigments and retinal oil droplets were studied in three groups of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica): an unselected control population and two artificially selected strains that exhibited different early approach preferences between blue and red stimuli. The oil droplets were examined with and without prior carotenoid deprivation. Four cone pigments and five oil droplet types were identified, resembling those in other avian species. Carotenoid deprivation eliminated all pigmentation detectable in oil droplets by microspectrophotometry. Placement of chicks on normal diet gradually reintroduced normal pigmentation within the span of about a week. No statistically significant differences were found between normal and genetically selected birds in either visual pigments or oil droplet types, or in their relative proportions. It is concluded that differences in the early colour preferences of quail are unlikely to be a result of variation in the spectral properties of their photoreceptors.

Animals↗