Tuyển tập các báo cáo nghiên cứu về sinh học được đăng trên tạp chí sinh học Journal of Biology đề tài: Spatially patterned gradients of synaptic connectivity are established early in the developing retina. | Journal of Biology BioMed Central Minireview Spatially patterned gradients of synaptic connectivity are established early in the developing retina Susana Cohen-Cory Address Department of Neurobiology and Behavior University of California Irvine 2205 McGaugh Hall Irvine CA 92697 USA. Email scohenco@ Published 9 June 2008 Journal of Biology 2008 7 15 doi jbiol76 The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at http content 7 5 15 2008 BioMed Central Ltd Abstract Retinal neurons receive input from other cells via synapses and the position of these synapses on the neurons reflects the retinal regions from which information is received. A new study in Neural Development establishes that the spatial distribution of excitatory synaptic inputs emerges at the onset of synapse formation rather than as a result of changes during neuronal reorganisation. How do appropriate synaptic patterns of connectivity emerge during development What is the relationship between a neuron s dendritic architecture and its synaptic connectivity These questions have puzzled developmental neurobiologists for many years but only recently with the advent of novel neuronal labeling and imaging techniques have answers to these questions been obtained in the living organism. In a recent article in Neural Development Morgan et al. 1 investigate the developmental mechanisms by which excitatory synaptic inputs become distributed across retinal neurons so that reliable visual information can be transferred to the brain. This study demonstrates that synaptic inputs to retinal projection neurons are spatially patterned from early stages of dendritic development and that the density of inputs is maintained as constant even as the retinal circuits remodel and mature. The organized laminated structure of the vertebrate retina Figure 1a provides an excellent model in which to study how synaptic circuits are established during development and to what
