Homeostatic plasticity shapes the visual system’s first synapse

Robert E. Johnson, Nai-Wen Tien, Ning Shen, James T. Pearson, Florentina Soto and Daniel Kerschensteiner ()
Additional contact information
Robert E. Johnson: Washington University School of Medicine
Nai-Wen Tien: Washington University School of Medicine
Ning Shen: Washington University School of Medicine
James T. Pearson: Washington University School of Medicine
Florentina Soto: Washington University School of Medicine
Daniel Kerschensteiner: Washington University School of Medicine

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Vision in dim light depends on synapses between rods and rod bipolar cells (RBCs). Here, we find that these synapses exist in multiple configurations, in which single release sites of rods are apposed by one to three postsynaptic densities (PSDs). Single RBCs often form multiple PSDs with one rod; and neighboring RBCs share ~13% of their inputs. Rod-RBC synapses develop while ~7% of RBCs undergo programmed cell death (PCD). Although PCD is common throughout the nervous system, its influences on circuit development and function are not well understood. We generate mice in which ~53 and ~93% of RBCs, respectively, are removed during development. In these mice, dendrites of the remaining RBCs expand in graded fashion independent of light-evoked input. As RBC dendrites expand, they form fewer multi-PSD contacts with rods. Electrophysiological recordings indicate that this homeostatic co-regulation of neurite and synapse development preserves retinal function in dim light.

Date: 2017
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-01332-7 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-017-01332-7

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01332-7

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().