title: Molecular mechanisms at the basis of plasticity in the developing visual cortex: epigenetic processes and gene programs.
abstract: Neuronal circuitries in the mammalian visual system change as a function of experience. Sensory experience modifies neuronal networks connectivity via the activation of different physiological processes such as excitatory/inhibitory synaptic transmission, neurotrophins, and signaling of extracellular matrix molecules. Long-lasting phenomena of plasticity occur when intracellular signal transduction pathways promote epigenetic alterations of chromatin structure that regulate the induction of transcription factors that in turn drive the expression of downstream targets, the products of which then work via the activation of structural and functional mechanisms that modify synaptic connectivity. Here, we review recent findings in the field of visual cortical plasticity while focusing on how physiological mechanisms associated with experience promote structural changes that determine functional modifications of neural circuitries in V1. We revise the role of microRNAs as molecular transducers of environmental stimuli and the role of immediate early genes that control gene expression programs underlying plasticity in the developing visual cortex.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Nanotechnology Innovation, Piazza San Silvestro 12, 56127 Pisa, Italy. ; Centre for Neuroscience and Cognitive Systems, Corso Bettini 31, 38068 Rovereto, Italian Institute of Technology, Italy.
authors.forename: José Fernando
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Maya-Vetencourt
authors.affiliation: CNR Neuroscience Institute, Via Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy. ; Department of Neuroscience, Psychology, Drug Research and Child Health NEUROFARBA, University of Florence, Via San Salvi 12, 50135 Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Tommaso
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pizzorusso
keywords: GABAergic interneurons; Npas4; OTX2; chromatin remodeling; epigenetics; extracellular matrix; microRNAs; plasticity; visual cortex