QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP

The Journal of Neuroscience, January 2, 2008, 28(1):292-303; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4276-07.2008

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplemental Data Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in J. Neurosci. Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Shah, R. D. Articles by Crair, M. C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Shah, R. D. Articles by Crair, M. C. Pubmed/NCBI databases Gene GEO Profiles HomoloGene Nucleotide Protein UniGene Compound via MeSH Substance via MeSH

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Development/Plasticity/Repair
Retinocollicular Synapse Maturation and Plasticity Are Regulated by Correlated Retinal Waves

Ruchir D. Shah^1,2 and Michael C. Crair¹

¹Department of Neurobiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06510, and ²Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Michael C. Crair, Department of Neurobiology, Yale University School of Medicine, P.O. Box 208001, New Haven, CT 06520-8001. Email: michael.crair{at}yale.edu

During development, spontaneous retinal waves are thought to provide an instructive signal for retinotopic map formation in the superior colliculus. In mice lacking the β2 subunit of nicotinic ACh receptors (β2^–/–), correlated retinal waves are absent during the first postnatal week, but return during the second postnatal week. In control retinocollicular synapses, in vitro analysis reveals that AMPA/NMDA ratios and AMPA quantal amplitudes increase during the first postnatal week while the prevalence of silent synapses decreases. In age-matched β2^–/– mice, however, these parameters remain unchanged through the first postnatal week in the absence of retinal waves, but quickly mature to control levels by the end of the second week, suggesting that the delayed onset of correlated waves is able to drive synapse maturation. To examine whether such a mechanistic relationship exists, we applied a "burst-based" plasticity protocol that mimics coincident activity during retinal waves. We find that this pattern of activation is indeed capable of inducing synaptic strengthening [long-term potentiation (LTP)] on average across genotypes early in the first postnatal week [postnatal day 3 (P3) to P4] and, interestingly, that the capacity for LTP at the end of the first week (P6–P7) is significantly greater in immature β2^–/– synapses than in mature control synapses. Together, our results suggest that retinal waves drive retinocollicular synapse maturation through a learning rule that is physiologically relevant to natural wave statistics and that these synaptic changes may serve an instructive role during retinotopic map refinement.

Key words: retinal waves; superior colliculus; activity dependent; synapse development; mouse; map refinement

---

Received Sept. 18, 2007; revised Nov. 19, 2007; accepted Nov. 21, 2007.

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Michael C. Crair, Department of Neurobiology, Yale University School of Medicine, P.O. Box 208001, New Haven, CT 06520-8001. Email: michael.crair{at}yale.edu

Related articles in J. Neurosci.:

This Week in The Journal

J. Neurosci. 2008 28: i. [Full Text]  

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help