title: Neural Mechanisms Generating Orientation Selectivity in the Retina.
abstract: The orientation of visual stimuli is a salient feature of visual scenes. In vertebrates, the first neural processing steps generating orientation selectivity take place in the retina. Here, we dissect an orientation-selective circuit in the larval zebrafish retina and describe its underlying synaptic, cellular, and molecular mechanisms. We genetically identify a class of amacrine cells (ACs) with elongated dendritic arbors that show orientation tuning. Both selective optogenetic ablation of ACs marked by the cell-adhesion molecule Teneurin-3 (Tenm3) and pharmacological interference with their function demonstrate that these cells are critical components for orientation selectivity in retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) by being a source of tuned GABAergic inhibition. Moreover, our morphological analyses reveal that Tenm3(+) ACs and orientation-selective RGCs co-stratify their dendrites in the inner plexiform layer, and that Tenm3(+) ACs require Tenm3 to acquire their correct dendritic stratification. Finally, we show that orientation tuning is present also among bipolar cell presynaptic terminals. Our results define a neural circuit underlying orientation selectivity in the vertebrate retina and characterize cellular and molecular requirements for its assembly.
authors.affiliation: MRC Centre for Developmental Neurobiology, King's College London, Guy's Campus, London SE1 1UL, UK.
authors.forename: Paride
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Antinucci
authors.affiliation: MRC Centre for Developmental Neurobiology, King's College London, Guy's Campus, London SE1 1UL, UK.
authors.forename: Oniz
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Suleyman
authors.affiliation: MRC Centre for Developmental Neurobiology, King's College London, Guy's Campus, London SE1 1UL, UK.
authors.forename: Clinton
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Monfries
authors.affiliation: MRC Centre for Developmental Neurobiology, King's College London, Guy's Campus, London SE1 1UL, UK. Electronic address: robert.hindges@kcl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hindges
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009949:Orientation; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins; C405067:tenm3 protein, zebrafish