Fig. 2

Vertebrate retinal development. a Cartoon of the developing retina. Early in development, the retina is composed of multipotent retinal progenitor cells (RPCs). b Over time, RPCs give rise to the seven cell types of the mature retina and they do so with precise spatio-temporal precision. Retinal ganglion cells are generated first, followed by horizontal cells, cones, amacrine cells, rods, bipolar cells and finally Muller glia. As development proceeds, the competency of RPCs to give rise to each of these cell types becomes further restricted. c Cartoon of the laminar architecture of the mature retina, wherein differentiated neurons are precisely organized into three principal cellular layers: the outer nuclear layer (ONL), inner nuclear layer (INL) and ganglion cell layer (GCL). These layers are separated by the synaptic layers: the outer plexiform layer (OPL) and inner plexiform later (IPL). The retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) lies at the posterior of the eye, supporting the retina. d Histological section (H + E stained) of a 13-week-old mouse retina highlighting these retinal layers. Scale bar = 10 um