The attachment of a plasma membrane adhesion molecule in one cell to an identical molecule in an adjacent cell.

The process in which a relatively unspecialized cell acquires the specialized features of a compound eye cone cell, a cone-shaped cell, that focuses light in a compound eye.

Any process that stops, prevents, or reduces the frequency, rate or extent of photoreceptor cell differentiation. An example of this process is found in Drosophila melanogaster.

The process in which a relatively unspecialized cell acquires the specialized features of a pigmented cell, such as a melanocyte.

The aggregation, arrangement and bonding together of a set of components to form a synapse. This process ends when the synapse is mature (functional).

The process in which the vertebrate retina is organized into three laminae: the outer nuclear layer (ONL), which contains photoreceptor nuclei; the inner nuclear layer (INL), which contains amacrine, bipolar and horizontal cells; and the retinal ganglion cell (RGC) layer. Between the inner and outer nuclear layers, the outer plexiform layer (OPL) contains connections between the photoreceptors and bipolar and horizontal cells. The inner plexiform layer (IPL) is positioned between the INL and the ganglion cell layer and contains the dendrites of RGCs and processes of bipolar and amacrine cells. Spanning all layers of the retina are the radially oriented Mueller glia.

The process in which a relatively unspecialized cell acquires the specialized features of a photoreceptor cell in a camera-type eye.

The component of the plasma membrane consisting of the gene products and protein complexes having at least some part of their peptide sequence embedded in the hydrophobic region of the membrane.

The region of a polarized cell that forms a tip or is distal to a base. For example, in a polarized epithelial cell, the apical region has an exposed surface and lies opposite to the basal lamina that separates the epithelium from other tissue.

The space between the membrane of an oocyte and a surrounding membranous structure (zona pellucida or perivitelline membrane).

The junction between a nerve fiber of one neuron and another neuron, muscle fiber or glial cell. As the nerve fiber approaches the synapse it enlarges into a specialized structure, the presynaptic nerve ending, which contains mitochondria and synaptic vesicles. At the tip of the nerve ending is the presynaptic membrane; facing it, and separated from it by a minute cleft (the synaptic cleft) is a specialized area of membrane on the receiving cell, known as the postsynaptic membrane. In response to the arrival of nerve impulses, the presynaptic nerve ending secretes molecules of neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft. These diffuse across the cleft and transmit the signal to the postsynaptic membrane.