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Varadarajan SG, Wang F, Dhande OS, Le P, Duan X, Huberman AD. Postsynaptic neuronal activity promotes regeneration of retinal axons. Cell Rep 2023; 42:112476. [PMID: 37141093 PMCID: PMC10247459 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2022] [Revised: 11/02/2022] [Accepted: 04/19/2023] [Indexed: 05/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The wiring of visual circuits requires that retinal neurons functionally connect to specific brain targets, a process that involves activity-dependent signaling between retinal axons and their postsynaptic targets. Vision loss in various ophthalmological and neurological diseases is caused by damage to the connections from the eye to the brain. How postsynaptic brain targets influence retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axon regeneration and functional reconnection with the brain targets remains poorly understood. Here, we established a paradigm in which the enhancement of neural activity in the distal optic pathway, where the postsynaptic visual target neurons reside, promotes RGC axon regeneration and target reinnervation and leads to the rescue of optomotor function. Furthermore, selective activation of retinorecipient neuron subsets is sufficient to promote RGC axon regeneration. Our findings reveal a key role for postsynaptic neuronal activity in the repair of neural circuits and highlight the potential to restore damaged sensory inputs via proper brain stimulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Supraja G Varadarajan
- Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
| | - Fei Wang
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Onkar S Dhande
- Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Phung Le
- Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Xin Duan
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Department of Physiology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Kavli Institute for Fundamental Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Andrew D Huberman
- Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA; BioX, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
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Alvarado JA, Dhande OS, Prosseda PP, Kowal TJ, Ning K, Jabbehdari S, Hu Y, Sun Y. Developmental distribution of primary cilia in the retinofugal visual pathway. J Comp Neurol 2020; 529:1442-1455. [PMID: 32939774 DOI: 10.1002/cne.25029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2020] [Revised: 07/21/2020] [Accepted: 08/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The mammalian visual system is composed of circuitry connecting sensory input from the retina to the processing core of the visual cortex. The two main retinorecipient brain targets, the superior colliculus (SC) and dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN), bridge retinal input and visual output. The primary cilium is a conserved organelle increasingly viewed as a critical sensor for the regulation of developmental and homeostatic pathways in most mammalian cell types. Moreover, cilia have been described as crucial for neurogenesis, neuronal maturation, and survival in the cortex and retina. However, cilia in the visual relay center remain to be fully described. In this study, we characterized the ciliation profile of the SC and dLGN and found that the overall number of ciliated cells declined during development. Interestingly, shorter ciliated cells in both regions were identified as neurons, whose numbers remained stable over time, suggesting that cilia retention is a critical feature for optimal neuronal function in SC and dLGN. Our study suggests that primary cilia are important for neuronal maturation and function in cells of the SC and dLGN.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jorge A Alvarado
- Department of Ophthalmology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, USA
| | - Onkar S Dhande
- Department of Ophthalmology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, USA
| | - Philipp P Prosseda
- Department of Ophthalmology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, USA
| | - Tia J Kowal
- Department of Ophthalmology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, USA
| | - Ke Ning
- Department of Ophthalmology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, USA
| | - Sayena Jabbehdari
- Department of Ophthalmology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, USA.,Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Yang Hu
- Department of Ophthalmology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, USA.,Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Yang Sun
- Department of Ophthalmology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, USA.,Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.,Palo Alto Veterans Administration, Palo Alto, California, USA
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Lin MS, Liao PY, Chen HM, Chang CP, Chen SK, Chern Y. Degeneration of ipRGCs in Mouse Models of Huntington's Disease Disrupts Non-Image-Forming Behaviors Before Motor Impairment. J Neurosci 2019; 39:1505-1524. [PMID: 30587542 PMCID: PMC6381252 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0571-18.2018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2018] [Revised: 11/22/2018] [Accepted: 12/17/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs), which express the photopigment melanopsin, are photosensitive neurons in the retina and are essential for non-image-forming functions, circadian photoentrainment, and pupillary light reflexes. Five subtypes of ipRGCs (M1-M5) have been identified in mice. Although ipRGCs are spared in several forms of inherited blindness, they are affected in Alzheimer's disease and aging, which are associated with impaired circadian rhythms. Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal neurodegenerative disease caused by the expansion of a CAG repeat in the huntingtin gene. In addition to motor function impairment, HD mice also show impaired circadian rhythms and loss of ipRGC. Here, we found that, in HD mouse models (R6/2 and N171-82Q male mice), the expression of melanopsin was reduced before the onset of motor deficits. The expression of retinal T-box brain 2, a transcription factor essential for ipRGCs, was associated with the survival of ipRGCs. The number of M1 ipRGCs in R6/2 male mice was reduced due to apoptosis, whereas non-M1 ipRGCs were relatively resilient to HD progression. Most importantly, the reduced innervations of M1 ipRGCs, which was assessed by X-gal staining in R6/2-OPN4Lacz/+ male mice, contributed to the diminished light-induced c-fos and vasoactive intestinal peptide in the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN), which may explain the impaired circadian photoentrainment in HD mice. Collectively, our results show that M1 ipRGCs were susceptible to the toxicity caused by mutant Huntingtin. The resultant impairment of M1 ipRGCs contributed to the early degeneration of the ipRGC-SCN pathway and disrupted circadian regulation during HD progression.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Circadian disruption is a common nonmotor symptom of Huntington's disease (HD). In addition to the molecular defects in the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN), the cause of circadian disruption in HD remains to be further explored. We hypothesized that ipRGCs, by integrating light input to the SCN, participate in the circadian regulation in HD mice. We report early reductions in melanopsin in two mouse models of HD, R6/2, and N171-82Q. Suppression of retinal T-box brain 2, a transcription factor essential for ipRGCs, by mutant Huntingtin might mediate the reduced number of ipRGCs. Importantly, M1 ipRGCs showed higher susceptibility than non-M1 ipRGCs in R6/2 mice. The resultant impairment of M1 ipRGCs contributed to the early degeneration of the ipRGC-SCN pathway and the circadian abnormality during HD progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meng-Syuan Lin
- Taiwan International Graduate Program in Molecular Medicine, National Yang-Ming University and Academia Sinica, Taipei 115, Taiwan
- Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115, Taiwan, and
| | - Po-Yu Liao
- Department of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, Taiwan
| | - Hui-Mei Chen
- Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115, Taiwan, and
| | - Ching-Pang Chang
- Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115, Taiwan, and
| | - Shih-Kuo Chen
- Department of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, Taiwan
| | - Yijuang Chern
- Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115, Taiwan, and
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Varadarajan SG, Huberman AD. Assembly and repair of eye-to-brain connections. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2018; 53:198-209. [PMID: 30339988 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2018.10.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2018] [Revised: 09/24/2018] [Accepted: 10/02/2018] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Vision is the sense humans rely on most to navigate the world and survive. A tremendous amount of research has focused on understanding the neural circuits for vision and the developmental mechanisms that establish them. The eye-to-brain, or 'retinofugal' pathway remains a particularly important model in these contexts because it is essential for sight, its overt anatomical features relate to distinct functional attributes and those features develop in a tractable sequence. Much progress has been made in understanding the growth of retinal axons out of the eye, their selection of targets in the brain, the development of laminar and cell type-specific connectivity within those targets, and also dendritic connectivity within the retina itself. Moreover, because the retinofugal pathway is prone to degeneration in many common blinding diseases, understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms that establish connectivity early in life stands to provide valuable insights into approaches that re-wire this pathway after damage or loss. Here we review recent progress in understanding the development of retinofugal pathways and how this information is important for improving visual circuit regeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Supraja G Varadarajan
- Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, United States
| | - Andrew D Huberman
- Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, United States; Department of Ophthalmology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, United States; BioX, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, United States; Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, United States.
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