Dopamine Induces Light‐Adaptive Retinomotor Movements in Bullfrog Cones via D2 Receptors and in Retinal Pigment Epithelium via D1 Receptors
Authors: Dearry Allen , Edelman Jeffrey L. , Miller Sheldon , Burnside Beth 
Published: October 2006

In the eyes of lower vertebrates, retinal photoreceptors and melanin pigment granules of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) exhibit characteristic retinomotor movements in response to changes in ambient illumination and to signals from an endogenous circadian clock. We previously reported that 3,4‐dihydroxyphenylethylamine (dopamine) mimicked the effect of light on these movements in photoreceptors and RPE cells of green sunfish, Lepomis cyanellus, by interacting with D2 dopaminergic receptors. Here, we report that dopamine also mimics the effect of light on cone and RPE retinomotor movements in bullfrogs, Rana catesbeiana, i.e., dopamine induces cone contraction and RPE pigment dispersion. Dopamine induced cone contraction in isolated dark‐adapted bullfrog retinas incubated in constant darkness in the presence of the phosphodiesterase inhibitor 3‐isobutyl‐1‐methylxanthine (IBMX). This effect of dopamine was inhibited by a D2 but not a D1 antagonist and mimicked by a D2 but not a D1 agonist. These results suggest that induction of cone contraction by dopamine is mediated by D2 dopaminergic receptors and that cone adenylate cyclase activity is inhibited. Thus, dopamine acts via the same type of receptor in both bullfrog and green sunfish retinas to induce cone contraction. In contrast, dopamine influences RPE retinomotor movement via different receptors in fish and bullfrog. Dopamine induced light‐adaptive pigment dispersion in isolated dark‐adapted bullfrog RPE‐eyecups incubated in constant darkness in normal Ringer's solution. Because the retina was not present, these experiments demonstrate a direct effect of dopamine on bullfrog RPE. This effect of dopamine on bullfrog RPE was inhibited by a D1 but not a D2 antagonist and mimicked by a D1 but not a D2 agonist. Furthermore, agents that increase the concentration of intracellular cyclic AMP also induced pigment dispersion in dark‐adapted bullfrog RPE‐eyecups incubated in the dark. These results suggest that dopamine induces pigment dispersion in bullfrog RPE via D1 dopaminergic receptors. Thus, dopamine acts via different receptors on bullfrog (D1) versus green sunfish (D2) RPE to induce pigment dispersion. In addition, inhibitor studies indicate that pigment dispersion is actin dependent in teleost but not in bullfrog RPE. Dopamine‐induced pigment dispersion was inhibited by cytochalasin D in isolated RPE sheets of green sunfish but not in RPE‐eyecups of bullfrogs. Together, these observations indicate that dopamine mimics the effect of light on cone and RPE retinomotor movements in both fish and bullfrogs. However, in the RPE, different receptors mediate the effect of dopamine, and different cytoskeletal mechanisms are used to affect pigment transport. These findings suggest that the association of dopamine release with light onset is of earlier evolutionary origin than the appearance of retinomotor movements and that retinomotor movements may have evolved separately in teleosts and amphibians.