Horizontal Cells

Horizontal Cells

Horizontal cells are second order neurons that mediate the process of lateral inhibition in the outer retina, and are therefore electrically coupled by connexin-positive gap junctions.  Horizontal cell nuclei have a flattened appearance in retina sections.

Schematic depicting the different cell types and layers that make up the neural retina in an adult zebrafish adapted from Baden et al., 2019. Horizontal cells have their cell bodies in the inner nuclear layer and synapse with bipolar and photoreceptor cells (rods and cones) in the outer plexiform layer.