First published online March 1, 2004
Development 131, 603e (2004)
© The Company of Biologists Limited
Lay(er)ing down the retina
Like many neural circuits, the vertebrate retina is organised into laminae.
But how are neurites targeted to the correct synaptic layer during retinal
development? Kay et al. use a powerful combination of in vivo confocal imaging
and genetic manipulation to study the inner plexiform layer (IPL) of the
zebrafish retina (see p.
1331). The IPL contains post-synaptic retinal ganglion cells (RGCs)
and their pre-synaptic partners, the amacrine cells and bipolar cells, and is
subdivided into ON and OFF sublaminae that respond differently to
illumination. The researchers study IPL development in real time by labelling
amacrine cell subsets with GFP in a zebrafish mutant in which RGCs never form.
IPL formation was delayed and disorganised in the absence of RGCs, but the
early neurite projection errors were later corrected to produce a near-normal
IPL. Thus, while RGCs have a transient role in organising the earliest
amacrine cell projections, interactions between amacrine cells are sufficient
to form the IPL and its sublayers.
Related articles in Development:
- Transient requirement for ganglion cells during assembly of retinal synaptic layers
- Jeremy N. Kay, Tobias Roeser, Jeff S. Mumm, Leanne Godinho, Ana Mrejeru, Rachel O. L. Wong, and Herwig Baier
Development 2004 131: 1331-1342.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
