A retinal adrenergic module tunes mammalian visual evolution

Authors

Tang, F.-S., Kong, M.-M., Luo, Y.-R., Wang, Z.-X., Gao, M., Rao, L.-J., Liu, J.-B., Zhang, T.-T., Chen, S.-Y., Cheng, Y., Gou, B., Yang, C., Yu, H.-B., Lilue, J.-T., Li, W., Ke, J.-B.

Abstract

How conserved neural circuits are modified during mammalian evolution remains poorly understood. Here we combine cross-species single-cell transcriptomics, in situ validation, retinal physiology, and conditional genetics to identify a superorder-associated adrenergic module in the mammalian retina. We find that ADRB1, which encodes the {beta}1-adrenergic receptor, is uniquely expressed in rod bipolar cells of sampled Euarchontoglires, but is absent from homologous cells in sampled Laurasiatheria and Marsupialia. In mice, {beta}1-adrenergic receptor localizes to rod bipolar cell terminals and boosts transmission to AII amacrine cells through Gs-adenylyl cyclase-cAMP-PKA signaling pathway. This modulation enhances synchronous release, accelerates downstream ganglion cell output, and increases scotopic electroretinographic responses, while rod-bipolar-cell-specific Adrb1 deletion abolishes norepinephrine-induced enhancement without disrupting baseline vision. In the diurnal tree shrew, a Euarchontoglires species with a cone-dominated retina, ADRB1 is instead redeployed from rod bipolar cells to cone photoreceptors. These findings reveal an evolutionarily mobile neuromodulatory module that tunes retinal computation according to visual ecology.

Preprint server: bioRxiv
The authors list and abstract were imported from bioRxiv on 20 Aug 2026.

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