Mouse predation is dependent on a population of POU6F2-positive retinal ganglion cells.

Authors

Fangyu Lin, Su-Ting Lin, Eldon E Geisert

Published in

iScience. Volume 29. Issue 8. Pages 116969. Aug 21, 2026. Epub Jul 31, 2026.

Abstract

The contribution of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) subtypes to visually guided behavior continues to be an active area of research. We identify POU6F2-expressing RGCs that are ON-OFF direction-selective RGCs and are vulnerable to glaucomatous injury. In Pou6f2 knockout (Pou6f2 ^-/-) mice, there is a 12% loss of RGCs, and these cells are the POU6F2-expressing RGCs. Functionally, Pou6f2 ^-/- mice exhibited profound deficit in contrast sensitivity. In the present study, we demonstrate a significant decline in the ability of Pou6f2 ^-/- mice to perform a predation test that is dependent on binocular vision. Wild-type mice detect and capture the cricket rapidly; while Pou6f2 ^-/- mice require a significantly longer time to complete the task. After optic nerve crush, wildtype mice require a longer time to capture crickets; while there is no further impairment in the Pou6f2 ^-/- mice. These data demonstrate that the POU6F2-positive RGCs are essential for this binocularly driven behavior.

PMID:
42572612
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 10 Aug 2026.

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