Photoreceptors are light-sensitive retinal neurons that are evolutionarily designed for efficient capture of light, transmitting the signals to the next layer of neurons and withstanding stress associated with continuous exposure to the light. Our understanding of photoreceptors functioning in health and disease remains fragmented. Nevertheless, the emergence of powerful new technologies, advances in human and mouse genetics, and stem cell biology make it feasible to address some of the major photoreceptor cell biology questions in the near future. The whole picture will uncover machinery and components critical for building and maintaining individual cellular structures (e.g., outer segments, synaptic connections, mitochondria). The use of multi-omics approaches will pinpoint critical nodes and adaptative properties of proteostatic, metabolic, and transcriptional networks in health and disease. Future studies will also map out the contributions of non-cell-autonomous signaling networks to photoreceptor functioning (RPE, microglia, Mueller glia).
We invite contributions from the leading photoreceptor scientists to assess the status, challenges, and unmet needs in photoreceptor biology. The areas of interest include recent advancements in the understanding of molecular and cellular mechanisms allowing photoreceptors to build and maintain outer segments, form and maintain synaptic connections, and ensure targeted transport of proteins and second messenger signaling in individual cellular compartments. Other areas of interest are recent developments in understanding proteostasis regulation, metabolic and lipid changes caused by aging and degeneration, studies of specific characteristics of photoreceptors functioning under stress, framing the roles of non-autonomous cell signaling in the modulation of photoreceptor function and viability, the use of organoids to study the biology of photoreceptors, application of mathematical modeling to understand photoreceptor physiology and signaling.
The submission format is flexible and could include original articles, up-to-date reviews, opinions, methodological papers, theoretical-computational studies, and meta-analysis studies.
Photoreceptors are light-sensitive retinal neurons that are evolutionarily designed for efficient capture of light, transmitting the signals to the next layer of neurons and withstanding stress associated with continuous exposure to the light. Our understanding of photoreceptors functioning in health and disease remains fragmented. Nevertheless, the emergence of powerful new technologies, advances in human and mouse genetics, and stem cell biology make it feasible to address some of the major photoreceptor cell biology questions in the near future. The whole picture will uncover machinery and components critical for building and maintaining individual cellular structures (e.g., outer segments, synaptic connections, mitochondria). The use of multi-omics approaches will pinpoint critical nodes and adaptative properties of proteostatic, metabolic, and transcriptional networks in health and disease. Future studies will also map out the contributions of non-cell-autonomous signaling networks to photoreceptor functioning (RPE, microglia, Mueller glia).
We invite contributions from the leading photoreceptor scientists to assess the status, challenges, and unmet needs in photoreceptor biology. The areas of interest include recent advancements in the understanding of molecular and cellular mechanisms allowing photoreceptors to build and maintain outer segments, form and maintain synaptic connections, and ensure targeted transport of proteins and second messenger signaling in individual cellular compartments. Other areas of interest are recent developments in understanding proteostasis regulation, metabolic and lipid changes caused by aging and degeneration, studies of specific characteristics of photoreceptors functioning under stress, framing the roles of non-autonomous cell signaling in the modulation of photoreceptor function and viability, the use of organoids to study the biology of photoreceptors, application of mathematical modeling to understand photoreceptor physiology and signaling.
The submission format is flexible and could include original articles, up-to-date reviews, opinions, methodological papers, theoretical-computational studies, and meta-analysis studies.