The many roles of starburst amacrine cells.
Starburst amacrine cells release two classical neurotransmitters, ACh and GABA. In a tour de force of paired-cell recording, Zheng et al. now show that the starburst cells are mutually excitatory during early development but mutually inhibitory in adult animals. The change occurs by remodeling of both the cholinergic and the GABAergic synapses between starburst cells. The finding gives a precise mechanistic basis for the developmental waves of activity in the retina.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA. masland@helix.mgh.harvard.edu
Richard H
RH
Masland
D000109:Acetylcholine / Q000378:metabolism; D025042:Amacrine Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D012160:Retina / Q000166:cytology*; D013569:Synapses / Q000378:metabolism; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000378:metabolism
D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid; D000109:Acetylcholine