On the Mechanism of Light Transmission by Müller Cells

الأصل · EN

We report that Müller cells contain bundles of long specialized intermediate filaments about 10 nm in diameter; most likely, these filaments are the channels providing light transmission to photoreceptor cells in mammalian and avian retinas. We interpret transmission of light in such channels using the notions of quantum confinement, describing energy transport in structures with electro-conductive walls and diameter much smaller than the wavelength of the respective photons. Model calculations produce photon transmission efficiency in such channels exceeding 0.8, in optimized geometry. We infer that protein molecules make up the channels, proposing a qualitative mechanism of light transmission by such structures.