Retina is a neurosensory tissue lining the back of the eye and is responsible for light detection and relaying the signal to the visual cortex in the brain. Mammalian retina consists of six major types of neurons (including photoreceptors; rods and cones) and one type of glial cells arranged in distinct layers. Photoreceptors are the most abundant cell types accounting for approximately 60% of all cells in the retina. Owing to their unique structure and function as ciliated neurons and their vast majority, dysfunction and degeneration of photoreceptors is associated with several inherited blindness disorders, such as retinitis pigmentosa, cone-rod degeneration, and age-related macular degeneration. Therefore, it is imperative to examine the structure and function of photoreceptors so that better understanding of the pathogenesis of associated diseases can be obtained for designing therapeutic modalities. In this chapter, we will provide detailed methods for analyzing photoreceptor function (electroretinography), structure, and biochemical analysis of sensory cilia of photoreceptors using mammalian retina as model system. These methods are widely used to assess photoreceptor development and degeneration during disease.
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