Ephrin-As and neural activity are required for eye-specific patterning during retinogeniculate mapping

Nat Neurosci. 2005 Aug;8(8):1022-7. doi: 10.1038/nn1508. Epub 2005 Jul 17.

Abstract

In mammals, retinal ganglion cell (RGC) projections initially intermingle and then segregate into a stereotyped pattern of eye-specific layers in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN). Here we found that in mice deficient for ephrin-A2, ephrin-A3 and ephrin-A5, eye-specific inputs segregated but the shape and location of eye-specific layers were profoundly disrupted. In contrast, mice that lacked correlated retinal activity did not segregate eye-specific inputs. Inhibition of correlated neural activity in ephrin mutants led to overlapping retinal projections that were located in inappropriate regions of the dLGN. Thus, ephrin-As and neural activity act together to control patterning of eye-specific retinogeniculate layers.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Body Patterning / physiology*
  • Brain Mapping
  • Ephrin-A2 / deficiency
  • Ephrin-A2 / physiology*
  • Ephrin-A3 / deficiency
  • Ephrin-A3 / physiology*
  • Ephrin-A5 / deficiency
  • Ephrin-A5 / physiology*
  • Geniculate Bodies / physiology*
  • Mice
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Receptor, EphA2 / deficiency
  • Receptor, EphA3 / deficiency
  • Receptor, EphA5 / deficiency
  • Retinal Ganglion Cells / physiology*
  • Synaptic Transmission / physiology*
  • Visual Pathways / physiology

Substances

  • Ephrin-A2
  • Ephrin-A3
  • Ephrin-A5
  • Receptor, EphA2
  • Receptor, EphA3
  • Receptor, EphA5