In this review, we briefly summarise the melanopsin system in the normal retina and discuss its role in connection to human aging (sleep/wake problems) and retinal pathology in Alzheimer and Parkinson diseases, diabetic retinopathy, mitochondrial optic neuropathies, glaucoma, retinitis pigmentosa, and in photophobia during migraine and in seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
The expression of mRGCs and RGCs was determined in eye sections containing retinal tissue from patients with DR (n = 6) and respective age-matched controls (n = 8) using immunohistochemistry by costaining with antibodies against RNA binding protein with multiple splicing (RBPMS), which identified RGCs and melanopsin which identified the mRGCs.