One of the fundamental features of the visual system is the segregation of neural circuits that process increments and decrements of luminance into ON and OFF pathways. In mature retina, the dendrites of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in the inner plexiform layer (IPL) of retina are separated into ON or OFF sublaminaspecific stratification. At an early developmental stage, however, the dendrites of most RGCs are ramified throughout the IPL. The maturation of RGC ON/OFF dendritic stratification requires neural activities mediated by afferent inputs from bipolar and amacrine cells. The synchronized spontaneous burst activities in early postnatal developing retina regulate RGC dendritic filopodial movements and the maintenance or elimination of dendritic processes. After eye opening, visual experience further remodels and consolidates the retinal neural circuit into mature forms. Several neurotransmitter systems, including glutamatergic, acetylcholinergic, GAB Aergic, and glycinergic systems, might act together to modulate the RGC dendritic refinement. In addition, both the bipolar cells and cholinergic amacrine cells may provide laminar cues for the maturation of RGC dendritic stratification.
Amthor FR, Oyster CW, Takahashi ES. 1984. Morphology of on-off direction-selective ganglion cells in the rabbit retina. Brain Res298:187–190.
2.
Bansal A, Singer JH, Hwang BJ, Xu W, Beaudet A, Feller MB. 2000. Mice lacking specific nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunits exhibit dramatically altered spontaneous activity patterns and reveal a limited role for retinal waves in forming ON and OFF circuits in the inner retina. J Neurosci20:7672–7681.
3.
Bisti S, Gargini C, Chalupa LM. 1998. Blockade of glutamate-mediated activity in the developing retina perturbs functional segregation of ON and OFF pathways. J Neurosci18:5019–5025.
4.
Bloomfield SA, Dacheux RF. 2001. Rod vision: pathways and processing in the mammalian retina. Prog Retin Eye Res20:351–384.
5.
Bloomfield SA, Hitchcock PF. 1991. Dendritic arbors of large-field ganglion cells show scaled growth during expansion of the goldfish retina: a study of morphometric and electrotonic properties. J Neurosci11:910–917.
6.
Bodnarenko SR, Chalupa LM. 1993. Stratification of ON and OFF ganglion cell dendrites depends on glutamate-mediated afferent activity in the developing retina. Nature364:144–146.
7.
Bodnarenko SR, Jeyarasasingam G, Chalupa LM. 1995. Development and regulation of dendritic stratification in retinal ganglion cells by glutamate-mediated afferent activity. J Neurosci15:7037–7045.
8.
Bodnarenko SR, Yeung G, Thomas L, McCarthy M. 1999. The development of retinal ganglion cell dendritic stratification in ferrets. Neuroreport10:2955–2959.
9.
Campbell G, Ramoa AS, Stryker MP, Shatz CJ. 1997. Dendritic development of retinal ganglion cells after prenatal intraocular infusion of tetrodotoxin. Vis Neurosci14:779–788.
10.
Chalupa LM, Jeyarasasingam G, Snider CJ, Bodnarenko SR. 1998. Development of ON and OFF retinal ganglion cell mosaics. In:Chalupa LM, Finlay BL, editors. Development and organization of the retina: from molecules to function. New York: Plenum. p 77–89.
11.
Chapman B, Gödecke L. 2000. Cortical cell orientation selectivity fails to develop in the absence of ON-center retinal ganglion cell activity. J Neurosci20:1922–1930.
Dann JF, Buhl EH, Peichl L. 1988. Postnatal dendritic maturation of alpha and beta ganglion cells in cat retina. J Neurosci8:1485–1499.
14.
Diamond JS, Copenhagen DR. 1995. The relationship between lightevoked synaptic excitation and spiking behavior of salamander retinal ganglion cells. J Physiol487:711–725.
15.
Fagiolini M, Katagiri H, Miyamoto H, Mori H, Grant SGN, Mishina M, and others. 2003. Separable features of visual cortical plasticity revealed by N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor 2A signaling. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A100:2854–2859.
16.
Famiglietti EW, Kolb H. 1976. Structure basis for ON-and off-center responses in retinal ganglion cells. Science194:193–195.
17.
Feller MB. 2002. The role of nAChR-mediated spontaneous retinal activity in visual system development. J Neurobiol53:556–567.
18.
Fisher LJ. 1979a. Development of retinal synaptic arrays in the inner plexiform layer of dark-reared mice. J Embryol Exp Morph54:219–227.
19.
Fisher LJ. 1979b. Development of synaptic arrays in the inner plexiform layer of neonatal mouse retina. J Comp Neurol187:359–372.
20.
Fletcher EL, Hack I, Brandstatter JH, Wassle H. 2000. Synaptic localization of NMDA receptor subunits in the rat retina. J Comp Neurol420:98–112.
21.
Gorfinkel J, Lachapelle P, Molotchnikoff S. 1988. Maturation of the electroretinogram of the neonatal rabbit. Doc Ophthalmol69:237–245.
22.
Gunhan E, Choudary PV, Landerholm TE, Chalupa LM. 2002. Depletion of cholinergic amacrine cells by a novel immunotoxin does not perturb the formation of segregated on and off cone bipolar cell projections. J Neurosci22:2265–2273.
23.
Hensch TK, Fagiolini M, Mataga N, Stryker MP, Baekkeskov S, Kash SF. 1998. Local GABA circuit control of experience-dependent plasticity in developing visual cortex. Science282:1504–1508.
24.
Hitchcock PF, Easter JS. 1986. Retinal ganglion cells in goldfish: a qualitative classification into four morphological types, and a quantitative study of the development of one of them. J Neurosci6:1037–1050.
25.
Jeyarasasingam G, Snider CJ, Ratto SGM, Chalupa LM. 1998. Activity-regulated cell death contributes to the formation of ON and OFF • ganglion cell mosaics. J Comp Neurol394:335–343.
26.
Johnson J, Tian N, Caywood MS, Reimer RJ, Edwards RH, Copenhagen DR. 2003. Vesicular neurotransmitter transporter expression in developing postnatal rodent retina: GABA and glycine precede glutamate. J Neurosci23:518–529.
27.
Lohmann C, Myhr KL, Wong ROL. 2002. Transmitter-evoked local calcium release stabilizes developing dendrites. Nature418:177–181.
28.
Marquardt T, Gruss P. 2002. Generating neuronal diversity in the retina: one for nearly all. Trends Neurosci25:32–38.
29.
Maslim J, Stone J. 1986. Synaptogenesis in the retina of the cat. Brain Res373:35–48.
30.
Maslim J, Stone J. 1988. Time course of stratification of the dendritic fields of ganglion cells in the retina of the cat. Dev Brain Res44:87–93.
31.
Miller M. 1981. Maturation of rat visual cortex I: a quantitative study of Golgi-impregnated pyramidal neurons. J Neurocytol10:859–878.
32.
Miller M, Peters A. 1981. Maturation of rat visual cortex II: a combined Golgi-electron microscope study of pyramidal neurons. J Comp Neurol203:555–573.
33.
Mittman S, Taylor WR, Copenhagen DR. 1990. Concomitant activation of two types of glutamate receptor mediates excitation of salamander retinal ganglion cells. J Physiol428:175–197.
34.
Myhr KL, Lukasiewicz PD, Wong ROL. 2001. Mechanisms underlying developmental changes in the firing patterns of ON and OFF retinal ganglion cells during refinement of their central projections. J Neurosci21:8664–8671.
35.
Nelson R, Famiglietti EVJ, Kolb H. 1978. Intracellular staining reveals different levels of stratification for on-and off-center ganglion cells in cat retina. J Neurophysiol41:472–483.
36.
Nishimura Y, Rakic P. 1987. Synaptogenesis in the primate retina proceeds from the ganglion cells towards the photoreceptors. Neurosci Res Suppl6:S253–S268.
37.
Pourcho G, Qin P, Goebel DJ. 2001. Cellular and subcellular distribution of NMDA receptor subunit NR2B in the retina. J Comp Neurol433:75–85.
38.
Redmond L, Kashani AH, Ghosh A. 2002. Calcium regulation of dendritic growth via CaM kinase IV and CREB-mediated transcription. Neuron34:999–1010.
39.
Reese BE, Raven MA, Giannotti KA, Johnson PT. 2001. Development of cholinergic cell stratification in the ferret retina and the effects of early excitotoxic ablation. Vis Neurosci18:559–570.
40.
Rockhill RL, Daly FJ, MacNeil MA, Brown SP, Masland RH. 2002. The diversity of ganglion cells in a mammalian retina. J Neurosci22:3831–3843.
41.
Seki M, Nawa H, Fukuchi T, Abe H, Takei N. 2003. BDNF is upregulated by postnatal development and visual experience: quantitative and immunohistochemical analyses of BDNF in the rat retina. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci44:3211–3218.
42.
Sernagor E, Eglen SJ, Wong RL. 2001. Development of retinal ganglion cell structure and function. Prog Retin Eye Res20:139–174.
43.
Sernagor E, Grzywacz NM. 1996. Influence of spontaneous activity and visual experience on developing retinal receptive fields. Curr Biol6:1503–1508.
44.
Stacy RC, Wong ROL. 2003. Developmental relationship between cholinergic amacrine cell processes and ganglion cell dendrites of the mouse retina. J Comp Neurol456:154–166.
45.
Stone C, Pinto LH. 1992. Receptive field organization of retinal ganglion cells in the Spasticmutant mouse. J Physiol456:125–142.
46.
Taylor WR, Vaney DI. 2003. New directions in retinal research. Trends Neurosci26:379–385.
47.
Tian N, Copenhagen DR. 2001. Visual deprivation alters development of synaptic function in inner retina after eye opening. Neuron32:439–443.
48.
Tian N, Copenhagen DR. 2003. Visual stimulation is required for refinement of ON and OFF pathways in postnatal retina. Neuron39:85–96.
49.
Tootle JS. 1993. Early postnatal development of visual function in ganglion cells of the cat retina. J Neurophysol69:1645–1660.
50.
Troilo D, Xiong M, Crowley JC, Finlay BL. 1996. Factors controlling the dendritic arborization of retinal ganglion cells. Vis Neurosci13:721–733.
51.
Wachtmeister L. 1998. Oscillatory potentials in the retina: what do they reveal. Prog Retin Eye Res17:485–521.
52.
Wang GY, Liets LC, Chalupa LM. 2001. Unique functional properties of ON and OFF pathways in the developing mammalian retina. J Neurosci21:4310–4317.
53.
Wässle H, Boycott BB, Illing RB. 1981. Morphology and mosaic of on-and off-beta cells in the cat retina and some functional considerations. Proc R Soc Lond B212:177–195.
54.
Wässle H, Peichl L, Boycott BB. 1981. Morphology and topography of on-and off-alpha cells in the cat retina. Proc R Soc Lond B212:157–175.
55.
Weliky M, Katz LC. 1997. Disruption of orientation tuning in visual cortex by artificially correlated neuronal activity. Nature386:680–685.
56.
Wingate RJT, Thompson ID. 1994. Targeting and activity-related dendritic modification in mammalian retinal ganglion cells. J Neurosci14:6621–6637.
57.
Wong ROL. 1990. Differential growth and remodelling of ganglion cell dendrites in the postnatal rabbit retina. J Comp Neurol294:109–132.
58.
Wong ROL. 1999. Retinal waves and visual system development. Annu Rev Neurosci22:29–47.
59.
Wong ROL, Chernjavsky A, Smith RD, Shatz CJ. 1995. Early functional neural networks in developing retina. Nature374:716–718.
60.
Wong ROL, Ghosh A. 2002. Activity-dependent regulation of dendritic growth and patterning. Nat Rev Neurosci3:803–812.
61.
Wong ROL, Herrmann K, Shatz CJ. 1991. Remodeling of retinal ganglion cell dendrites in the absence of action potential activity. J Neurobiol22:685–697.
62.
Wong WT, Myhr KL, Miller ED, Wong ROL. 2000. Developmental changes in the neurotransmitter regulation of correlated spontaneous retinal activity. J Neurosci20:351–360.
63.
Wong WT, Wong ROL. 2000. Rapid dendritic movements during synapse formation and rearrangement. Curr Opin Neurobiol10:118–124.
64.
Wu GY, Cline HT. 1998. Stabilization of dendritic arbor structure in vivo by CaMK II. Science279:222–226.
65.
Wu GY, Deisseroth K, Tsien RW. 2000. Activity-dependent CREB phosphorylation: convergence of a fast, sensitive calmodulin kinase pathway and a slow, less sensitive mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A98:2808–2813.
66.
Wu GY, Deisseroth K, Tsien RW. 2001. Spaced stimuli stabilize MAPK pathway activation and its effects on dendritic morphology. Nat Neurosci4:151–158.
67.
Xu HP, Tian N. 2004. Glycine receptor mediated activity is required for the maturation of OFF pathway in mouse retina [abstract]. Proceedings of the annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology; 2004 Apr 29; Fort Lauderdale (FL).
68.
Xue J, Cooper NGF. 2001. The modification of NMDA receptors by visual experience in the rat retina is age dependent. Mol Brain Res91:196–203.
69.
Yamasaki EN, Ramoa AS. 1993. Dendritic remodelling of retinal ganglion cells during development of the rat. J Comp Neurol329:277–289.
70.
Young RW. 1985. Cell differentiation in the retina of the mouse. Anat Rec212:199–205.
71.
Yuste R, Majewska A, Holthoff K. 2000. From form to function: calcium compartmentalization in dendritic spines. Nat Neurosci3:653–659.
