title: Requirement for cholinergic synaptic transmission in the propagation of spontaneous retinal waves.
abstract: Highly correlated neural activity in the form of spontaneous waves of action potentials is present in the developing retina weeks before vision. Optical imaging revealed that these waves consist of spatially restricted domains of activity that form a mosaic pattern over the entire retinal ganglion cell layer. Whole-cell recordings indicate that wave generation requires synaptic activation of neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors on ganglion cells. The only cholinergic cells in these immature retinas are a uniformly distributed bistratified population of amacrine cells, as assessed by antibodies to choline acetyltransferase. The results indicate that the major source of synaptic input to retinal ganglion cells is a system of cholinergic amacrine cells, whose activity is required for wave propagation in the developing retina.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-3200, USA. marla@violet.berkeley.edu
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Feller
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Wellis
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Stellwagen
authors.forename: F S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Werblin
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Shatz
mesh_terms: D000109:Acetylcholine / Q000502:physiology*; D000200:Action Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D002038:Bungarotoxins / Q000494:pharmacology; D002104:Cadmium / Q000494:pharmacology; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism; D003472:Curare / Q000494:pharmacology; D005289:Ferrets; D018756:GABA Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D018733:Nicotinic Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D011724:Pyridazines / Q000494:pharmacology; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic / Q000502:physiology*; D012160:Retina / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission; D014403:Tubocurarine / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D002038:Bungarotoxins; D018756:GABA Antagonists; D018733:Nicotinic Antagonists; D011724:Pyridazines; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic; D002104:Cadmium; D003472:Curare; C049853:gabazine; D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase; D000109:Acetylcholine; D002118:Calcium; D014403:Tubocurarine