title: Functional assembly of accessory optic system circuitry critical for compensatory eye movements.
abstract: Accurate motion detection requires neural circuitry that compensates for global visual field motion. Select subtypes of retinal ganglion cells perceive image motion and connect to the accessory optic system (AOS) in the brain, which generates compensatory eye movements that stabilize images during slow visual field motion. Here, we show that the murine transmembrane semaphorin 6A (Sema6A) is expressed in a subset of On direction-selective ganglion cells (On DSGCs) and is required for retinorecipient axonal targeting to the medial terminal nucleus (MTN) of the AOS. Plexin A2 and A4, two Sema6A binding partners, are expressed in MTN cells, attract Sema6A(+) On DSGC axons, and mediate MTN targeting of Sema6A(+) RGC projections. Furthermore, Sema6A/Plexin-A2/A4 signaling is required for the functional output of the AOS. These data reveal molecular mechanisms underlying the assembly of AOS circuits critical for moving image perception.
authors.affiliation: The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
authors.forename: Lu O
authors.initials: LO
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
authors.forename: Colleen M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Brady
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Department of Neuroscience, Department of Ophthalmology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
authors.forename: Hugh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cahill
authors.affiliation: The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
authors.forename: Timour
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Al-Khindi
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Neuroscience, National Institute for Basic Biology, 5-1 Higashiyama, Myodaiji-cho, Okazaki 444-8787, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiraki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sakuta
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Neurobiology Section in the Division of Biological Sciences, Department of Ophthalmology, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA 92093, USA.
authors.forename: Onkar S
authors.initials: OS
authors.lastname: Dhande
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Neuroscience, National Institute for Basic Biology, 5-1 Higashiyama, Myodaiji-cho, Okazaki 444-8787, Japan.
authors.forename: Masaharu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Noda
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Neurobiology Section in the Division of Biological Sciences, Department of Ophthalmology, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA 92093, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Huberman
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Department of Neuroscience, Department of Ophthalmology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nathans
authors.affiliation: The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. Electronic address: kolodkin@jhmi.edu.
authors.forename: Alex L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Kolodkin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000378:metabolism; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D012160:Retina / Q000378:metabolism*; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000378:metabolism*