Richard H. Masland, Ph.D.
Associate Chief and Director,
Howe Laboratory of Ophthalmology
Department of Ophthalmology, Mass. Eye and Ear Infirmary
David Glendenning Cogan Professor of Ophthalmology at
Harvard Medical School
Research Interests:
Research in this laboratory concerns local cellular interactions within the retina. Mammalian retinas contain a surprising diversity of cell types. Amacrine cells, upon which we have especially concentrated, exist in at least 20 different morphological subclasses. By fluorescent staining many of these classes can be visualized by distinct, reproducible populations in histological material or intact retinas in vitro during electrophysiological recording.
The broad questions under investigation are: (1) why this diversity exists, i.e., what functions the many cells carry out; (2) how orderly structural relations among the cells are created and maintained. At present, we have two main lines of work. The first is a systematic, quantitative study of the mosaics and arrays of retinal neurons. The goal is to account for all of players in the retina's microcircuitry. Toward this end, we have invented a new method for revealing the shapes of dendrites, which uses a photochemical reaction initiated by irradiation of a single cell’s nucleus with a microbeam of light. The method is in effect a quantitative Golgi, in the sense that almost every cell targeted is successfully filled. We have used it to characterize the population of amacrine cells and are now extending it to other retinal neurons. Recently we have adapted molecular methods to the study of retinal cell populations, especially the directed expression of reporter molecules in specific retinal cell classes.
Award and Honors:
Among Dr. Masland’s awards are Brian Boycott Prize (research on the retina), ARVO’s Proctor Medal, and Harvard’s Hoopes Prize and Irving M. London Award, both for excellence in teaching.
Among Dr. Masland’s awards are Brian Boycott Prize (research on the retina), ARVO’s Proctor Medal, and Harvard’s Hoopes Prize and Irving M. London Award, both for excellence in teaching.
Selected Publications:
Martin P, Masland RH (2007) Essay: the unsolved mystery of vision. Curr Biol 18:R577 –R583.
Martin P, Masland RH (2007) Essay: the unsolved mystery of vision. Curr Biol 18:R577 –R583.
Howell,GR, Libby RT. Jakobs TC, Smith RS, Phalan FC, Barter JW, Barbay JM, Marchant JK, Mahesh
N, Porciatti V, Whitmore AV, Masland RH , John , SWM. (2007) Axons of retinal ganglion cells are
insulted in the optic nerve early in DBA/2J glaucoma. J. Cell Biol., 31:1523-37.
N, Porciatti V, Whitmore AV, Masland RH , John , SWM. (2007) Axons of retinal ganglion cells are
insulted in the optic nerve early in DBA/2J glaucoma. J. Cell Biol., 31:1523-37.
Fuerst PG, Koizumi A, Masland RH, Burgess RW. (2008) Neurite arborization and mosaic spacing
in the mouse retina require DSCAM. Nature, 451: 470-474.
Jakobs TC, Koizumi A, Masland RH (2008) The spatial distribution of glutamatergic inputs to
dendrites of retinal ganglion cells. J. Comp Neurol., 510: 221-236.
Lin B, Koizumi A, Tanaka N, Panda S, Masland RH (2008) Restoration of visual function in
retinal degeneration mice by ectopic expression of melanopsin. Proc Nat Acad Sci USA
105: 16009-16014.
Page updated: January 31, 2011
