Direct retino-iridal projections and intrinsic iris contraction mediate the pupillary light reflex in early vertebrates

• Published in: Communications biology 2024-08, Vol.7 (1), p.993-12, Article 993
• Main Authors: Jiménez-López, Cecilia, Rivas-Ramírez, Paula, Barandela, Marta, Núñez-González, Carmen, Megías, Manuel, Pérez-Fernández, Juan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 631/378/2613; 631/378/2617; 82/51; 9/30; Animals; Autonomic nervous system; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Cephalaspidomorphi; Ciliary ganglion; Edinger-Westphal nucleus; Eye; Gap junctions; Iris; Iris - metabolism; Iris - physiology; Lampreys - physiology; Life Sciences; Light; Melanopsin; Muscle contraction; Muscle Contraction - physiology; Oculomotor nerve; Reflex, Pupillary - physiology; Retina; Retina - metabolism; Retina - physiology; Rod Opsins - genetics; Rod Opsins - metabolism; Sphincter; Vertebrates; Vertebrates - physiology; Visual system
• ISSN: 2399-3642; 2399-3642
• DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-06699-0

The pupillary light reflex (PLR) adapts the amount of light reaching the retina, protecting it and improving image formation. Two PLR mechanisms have been described in vertebrates. First, the pretectum receives retinal inputs and projects to the Edinger-Westphal nucleus (EWN), which targets the ciliary ganglion through the oculomotor nerve (nIII). Postganglionic fibers enter the eye-globe, traveling to the iris sphincter muscle. Additionally, some vertebrates exhibit an iris-intrinsic PLR mechanism mediated by sphincter muscle cells that express melanopsin inducing muscle contraction. Given the high degree of conservation of the lamprey visual system, we investigated the mechanisms underlying the PLR to shed light onto their evolutionary origins. Recently, a PLR mediated by melanopsin was demonstrated in lampreys, suggested to be brain mediated. Remarkably, we found that PLR is instead mediated by direct retino-iridal cholinergic projections. This retina-mediated PLR acts synergistically with an iris-intrinsic mechanism that, as in other vertebrates, is mediated by melanopsin and has contribution of gap junctions between muscle fibers. In contrast, we show that lampreys lack the brain-mediated PLR. Our results suggest that two eye-intrinsic PLR mechanisms were present in early vertebrate evolution, whereas the brain-mediated PLR has a more recent origin. Two eye-intrinsic mechanisms mediate the pupillary light response in lampreys: direct retino-iridal projections and melanopsin mediated iris-intrinsic contraction, also present in other vertebrates, while the brain mediated mechanisms evolved later.