title: Dendritic stratification differs among retinal OFF bipolar cell types in the absence of rod photoreceptors.
abstract: Retinal OFF bipolar cells show distinct connectivity patterns with photoreceptors in the wild-type mouse retina. Some types are cone-specific while others penetrate further through the outer plexiform layer (OPL) to contact rods in addition to cones. To explore dendritic stratification of OFF bipolar cells in the absence of rods, we made use of the 'cone-full' Nrl-/- mouse retina in which all photoreceptor precursor cells commit to a cone fate including those which would have become rods in wild-type retinas. The dendritic distribution of OFF bipolar cell types was investigated by confocal and electron microscopic imaging of immunolabeled tissue sections. The cells' dendrites formed basal contacts with cone terminals and expressed the corresponding glutamate receptor subunits at those sites, indicating putative synapses. All of the four analyzed cell populations showed distinctive patterns of vertical dendritic invasion through the OPL. This disparate behavior of dendritic extension in an environment containing only cone terminals demonstrates type-dependent specificity for dendritic outgrowth in OFF bipolar cells: rod terminals are not required for inducing dendritic extension into distal areas of the OPL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Carl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg, Germany.|Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Puller
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Arbogast
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Patrick W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Keeley
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, United States of America.|Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Benjamin E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Reese
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.|Institute of Cellular and Molecular Anatomy, Goethe-University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Silke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Haverkamp
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D050976:Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005136:Eye Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D051245:Retinal Bipolar Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D055214:Retinal Photoreceptor Cell Outer Segment / Q000648:ultrastructure; D017948:Retinal Rod Photoreceptor Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D013569:Synapses / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure*
chemical_list: D050976:Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors; D005136:Eye Proteins; C084884:Nrl protein, mouse; D018698:Glutamic Acid