Mouse Predation is Dependent on a Population of POU6F2-Positive Retinal Ganglion Cells

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 essential for binocular predatory behavior. The POU6F2 RGCs are ON-OFF direction-selective RGCs that 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 deficits in contrast sensitivity. In this study we found a deficit in the ability of Pou6f2-/- mice to perform a binocularly driven cricked predation test. Wildtype mice detect and capture the cricket rapidly; while, both Pou6f2-/- mice and mice with one optic nerve crushed, required significant longer times to complete the task. After optic nerve crush no further impairment in performance is seen in the knockout mouse. These data demonstrate that the POU6F2-positive RGCs are essential for this binocularly driven behavior.