Development Retinal development begins with the establishment of the eye fields mediated by the SHH and SIX3 proteins, with subsequent development of the optic vesicles regulated by the PAX6 and LHX2 proteins. The role of Pax6 in eye development was elegantly demonstrated by Walter Gehring and colleagues, who showed that ectopic expression of Pax6 can lead to eye formation on Drosophila antennae, wings, and legs. The optic vesicle gives rise to three structures: the neural retina, the retinal pigmented epithelium, and the optic stalk. The neural retina contains the retinal progenitor cells (RPCs) that give rise to the seven cell types of the retina. Differentiation begins with the retinal ganglion cells and concludes with production of the Muller glia. Although each cell type differentiates from the RPCs in a sequential order, there is considerable overlap in the timing of when individual cell types differentiate. The cues that determine a RPC daughter cell fate are coded by multiple transcription factor families including the bHLH and homeodomain factors.
Development Retinal development begins with the establishment of the eye fields mediated by the SHH and SIX3 proteins, with subsequent development of the optic vesicles regulated by the PAX6 and LHX2 proteins. The role of Pax6 in eye development was elegantly demonstrated by Walter Gehring and colleagues, who showed that ectopic expression of Pax6 can lead to eye formation on Drosophila antennae wings, and legs. The optic vesicle gives rise to three structures: the neural retina, the retinal pigmented epithelium, and the optic stalk. The neural retina contains the retinal progenitor cells (RPCs) that give rise to the seven cell types of the retina. Differentiation begins with the retinal ganglion cells and concludes with production of the Muller glia. Although each cell t,ype differentiates from the RPCs in a sequential order, there is considerable overlap in the timing of when individual cell types differentiate. The cues that determine a RPC daughter cell fate are coded by multiple transcription factor families including the bHLH and homeodomain factors.