{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,5]],"date-time":"2026-10-05T20:10:55Z","timestamp":1791231055601,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,9,20]],"date-time":"2023-09-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1695168000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000038","name":"Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["PIN03909-2018"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PIN03909-2018"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000038","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Cell. Neurosci."],"abstract":"<jats:p>Photosensitive opsins detect light and perform image- or nonimage-forming tasks. Opsins such as the \u201cclassical\u201d visual opsins and melanopsin are well studied. However, the retinal expression and functions of a novel family of neuropsins are poorly understood. We explored the developmental time-course and cell-type specificity of neuropsin (<jats:italic>opn5<\/jats:italic>, <jats:italic>6a<\/jats:italic>, <jats:italic>6b<\/jats:italic>, and <jats:italic>8<\/jats:italic>) expression in <jats:italic>Xenopus laevis<\/jats:italic> by <jats:italic>in situ<\/jats:italic> hybridization and immunohistochemistry. We compared the <jats:italic>Xenopus<\/jats:italic> results with publicly available single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data from zebrafish, chicken, and mouse. Additionally, we analyzed light-activation of neuropsin-expressing cells through induction of <jats:italic>c-fos<\/jats:italic> mRNA. <jats:italic>opn5<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>opn8<\/jats:italic> expression begins at stage 37\/38 when the retinal circuits begin to be activated. Once retinal circuits connect to the brain, <jats:italic>opn5<\/jats:italic> mRNA is distributed across multiple retinal cell types, including bipolar (~70%\u201375%), amacrine (~10%), and retinal ganglion (~20%) cells, with <jats:italic>opn8<\/jats:italic> present in amacrine (~70%) and retinal ganglion (~30%) cells. <jats:italic>opn6a<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>opn6b<\/jats:italic> mRNAs emerge in newborn-photoreceptors (stage 35), and are colocalized in rods and cones by stage 37\/38. Interestingly, in the mature larval retina (stage 43\/44), <jats:italic>opn6a<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>opn6b<\/jats:italic> mRNAs become preferentially localized to rods and cones, respectively, while newborn photoreceptors bordering the proliferative ciliary marginal zone express both genes. In zebrafish, <jats:italic>opn6a<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>opn6b<\/jats:italic> are also expressed in photoreceptors, while M\u00fcller glia and amacrine cells express <jats:italic>opn8c<\/jats:italic>. Most neuropsin-expressing retinal ganglion cells display <jats:italic>c-fos<\/jats:italic> expression in response to light, as do over half of the neuropsin-expressing interneurons. This study gave a better understanding of retinal neuropsin-expressing cells, their developmental onset, and light activation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fncel.2023.1266945","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,9,21]],"date-time":"2023-09-21T07:25:41Z","timestamp":1695281141000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["Cell-type expression and activation by light of neuropsins in the developing and mature Xenopus retina"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Lawrence L. H.","family":"Man","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Samuel S.","family":"Storey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gabriel E.","family":"Bertolesi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sarah","family":"McFarlane","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,9,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"685","DOI":"10.1002\/jez.b.22773","article-title":"The non-visual opsins: eighteen in the ancestor of vertebrates, astonishing increase in ray-finned fish, and loss in amniotes","volume":"328","author":"Beaudry","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Exp. Zool. 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