cAMP-Dependent Co-stabilization of Axonal Arbors from Adjacent Developing Neurons

Abstract

Highlights d Neighboring retinal ganglion cells cooperate to co-stabilize their axonal arbors d Axonal arbor co-stabilization involves cAMP signaling d cAMP independently controls axon co-stabilization and spontaneous activity

Activity-dependent refinement of nasal retinal projections drives topographic map sharpening in the teleost visual system

“…Similarly in zebrafish, nasal retinal projections initially arborizing in anterior areas refine their projection domains in an activity-dependent manner. While increasing evidence indicate that both competitive and stabilizing interactions between axons play an important role in reshaping arbors (Gosse et al, 2008;Hua et al, 2005;Louail et al, 2020;Rahman et al, 2020), how axons communicate and influence each other for refining their projection domains remains an important question. By enabling the selective manipulation of nasal and temporal RGCs, our new genetic model will provide new strategies for analyzing the molecular mechanisms by which axon-axon interactions contribute to precise retinotopic mapping in vertebrates.…”

“…However, increasing evidence also implicates additional mechanisms in the establishment of retinotopy. Repulsive, competitive and stabilizing interactions among axons themselves are thought to play an important role in both initial mapping and refinement (Gosse et al, 2008;Hua et al, 2005;Louail et al, 2020;Rahman et al, 2020;Suetterlin et al, 2012;Suetterlin and Drescher, 2014;Spead and Poulain, 2020;Weth et al, 2014). Yet, our understanding of how and when trans-axonal signaling contributes to retinotopic map formation and maturation has remained limited by our inability to selectively manipulate RGCs in a topographic and reproducible manner.…”

Targeted in utero electroporation of the ventro-temporal mouse retina

“…This technique was established to investigate the development of the ipsilateral and contralateral projections from the VT retina in their brain targets. The original procedure is described in Louail et al., 2020 , and was adapted from a previously described approach for in utero retinal electroporation ( Garcia-Frigola et al., 2007 ; Petros et al., 2009 ). Of note, the described protocol does not specifically target ipsilaterally projecting retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), but also leads to electroporation of contralaterally projecting RGCs of the VT retina.…”

“…For dataset and analysis generated using this protocol, please refer to Louail et al., 2020 .…”

“…The procedure is adaptable to target other retinal quadrants. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Louail et al. (2020) .…”