| wide field diffuse amacrine cell | Perry (Perry) | A diffuse amacrine cell has dendrites that branch at all levels of the inner plexiform layer. In the rat retina only one type of diffuse amacrine cell has been found, the wide-field diffuse amacrine cell. This cell type has a mean soma size of 10 micrometers (range 8.3-13.5 micrometers; N = 14). The extent of its dendritic field is difficult to define precisely; there is a core of short branches that extend vertically through the inner plexiform layer, and this core is surrounded by a number of branches that take an oblique course through the inner plexiform layer before terminating at variable distance from the cell soma at the level of ganglion cells. The dendrites of these cells have a characteristic varicose appearance and the ends of the dendrites often terminate with one of these swellings (see figure 1, plate 1, and figure 9). The dendritic field has a mean size of 177 micrometers (range 130-276 micrometers; N=14). The large range may be due to the difficulty in determining whether the cell is wholly stained or not. A similar cell type had been observed in the rat inner nuclear layer by Leure-Dupree (1974) although his cells seem to be undertained. | synonim | | Morphological evidence for an A17-type of amacrine cell in the rat retina was first reported by Perry and Walker (1980) in Golgi-stained whole-mount retinae. They described a wide-field, diffusely stratifying amacrine cell with dendrites bearing varicosities and ramifying in the innermost part of the retina. The amacrine cell type we investigated in this study showed the same appearance. | Peichl L. & Gonzalez-Soriano J. | Mihail Bota |
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