The role of nAChR‐mediated spontaneous retinal activity in visual system development

Abstract

ABSTRACT:In the developing vertebrate retina, nAChR synapses are among the first to appear. This early cholinergic circuitry plays a key role in generating "retinal waves," spontaneously generated waves of action potentials that sweep across the ganglion cell layer. These retinal waves exist for a short period of time during development when several circuits within the visual system are being established. Here I review the cholinergic circuitry of the developing retina and the role these early circuits play in the development of the retina itself and of retinal projections to the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus.

Disruption and Recovery of Patterned Retinal Activity in the Absence of Acetylcholine

“…Retinal structure develops normally in the absence of local ACh release Functional cholinergic pathways are present in the developing retina even before synaptic circuits are established (Yamashita et al, 1994;Wong, 1995;Zhou and Zhao, 2000;Feller, 2002;Pearson et al, 2002). ACh has been implicated in regulating local and global changes in the structural maturation of the retina.…”

Ontogeny of plasma membrane Ca2+ ATPase isoforms in the neural retina of the postnatal rat

“…Its expression in the retina appears selective. In the adult retina, PMCA1 is expressed at the synaptic terminals of rod and cone photoreceptors as well as in at least two classes of bipolar cells~Krizaj et al , 2002;Haverkamp et al, 2003!. These cell types possess ribbon synapses and are characterized by graded release of the synaptic transmitter glutamate.…”

Dissection, Culture, and Analysis of <em>Xenopus laevis</em> Embryonic Retinal Tissue

“…In addition to the obvious medical relevance for understanding and treating retinal disease, the development of the vertebrate retina continues to serve as an important and elegant model system for understanding neuronal cell type determination and differentiation [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] . The neural retina consists of six discrete cell types (ganglion, amacrine, horizontal, photoreceptors, bipolar cells, and Müller glial cells) arranged in stereotypical layers, a pattern that is largely conserved among all vertebrates 12,[14][15][16][17][18] .…”

“…While studying the retina in the intact developing embryo is clearly required for understanding how this complex organ develops from a protrusion of the forebrain into a layered structure, there are many questions that benefit from employing approaches using primary cell culture of presumptive retinal cells 7,[19][20][21][22][23] . For example, analyzing cells from tissues removed and dissociated at different stages allows one to discern the state of specification of individual cells at different developmental stages, that is, the fate of the cells in the absence of interactions with neighboring tissues 8,[19][20][21][22][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33] .…”

“…In addition to the obvious medical relevance for understanding and treating retinal disease, the development of the vertebrate retina continues to serve as an important and elegant model system for understanding neuronal cell type determination and differentiation [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] . The neural retina consists of six discrete cell types (ganglion, amacrine, horizontal, photoreceptors, bipolar cells, and Müller glial cells) arranged in stereotypical layers, a pattern that is largely conserved among all vertebrates 12,[14][15][16][17][18] .While studying the retina in the intact developing embryo is clearly required for understanding how this complex organ develops from a protrusion of the forebrain into a layered structure, there are many questions that benefit from employing approaches using primary cell culture of presumptive retinal cells 7,[19][20][21][22][23] . For example, analyzing cells from tissues removed and dissociated at different stages allows one to discern the state of specification of individual cells at different developmental stages, that is, the fate of the cells in the absence of interactions with neighboring tissues 8,[19][20][21][22][24][25][26][27][28][29]…”