title: Stereotyped initiation of retinal waves by bipolar cells via presynaptic NMDA autoreceptors.
abstract: Glutamatergic retinal waves, the spontaneous patterned neural activities propagating among developing retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), instruct the activity-dependent refinement of visuotopic maps. However, its initiation and underlying mechanism remain largely elusive. Here using larval zebrafish and multiple in vivo approaches, we discover that bipolar cells (BCs) are responsible for the generation of glutamatergic retinal waves. The wave originates from BC axon terminals (ATs) and propagates laterally to nearby BCs and vertically to downstream RGCs and the optic tectum. Its initiation is triggered by the activation of and consequent glutamate release from BC ATs, and is mediated by the N-methyl-D-aspartate subtype of glutamate receptors (NMDARs) expressed at these ATs. Intercellular asymmetry of NMDAR expression at BC ATs enables the preferential initiation of waves at the temporal retina, where BC ATs express more NMDARs. Thus, our findings indicate that glutamatergic retinal waves are initiated by BCs through a presynaptic NMDA autoreceptor-dependent process.
authors: Institute of Neuroscience, State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 320 Yue-Yang Road, Shanghai 200031, China.
authors: Rong-Wei
authors: RW
authors: Zhang
authors: Institute of Neuroscience, State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 320 Yue-Yang Road, Shanghai 200031, China.
authors: Xiao-Quan
authors: XQ
authors: Li
authors: Division of Molecular and Developmental Biology, National Institute of Genetics, 1111 Yata, Mishima, Shizuoka 411-8540, Japan.
authors: Koichi
authors: K
authors: Kawakami
authors: Institute of Neuroscience, State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 320 Yue-Yang Road, Shanghai 200031, China.|School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, 319 Yue-Yang Road, Shanghai 200031, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19A Yu-Quan Road, Beijing 100049, China.
authors: Jiu-Lin
authors: JL
authors: Du
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D054351:Electrical Synapses / Q000502:physiology; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D007814:Larva / Q000254:growth & development; D017729:Presynaptic Terminals / Q000378:metabolism; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000378:metabolism*; D051245:Retinal Bipolar Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology*; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D018698:Glutamic Acid