@article {65886,
	title = {Homeostatic plasticity shapes the visual system{\textquoteright}s first synapse},
	journal = {Nature Communications},
	volume = {8},
	year = {2017},
	month = {10/2017},
	abstract = {<p>Vision in dim light depends on synapses between rods and rod bipolar cells (RBCs). Here, we find that these synapses exist in multiple configurations, in which single release sites of rods are apposed by one to three postsynaptic densities (PSDs). Single RBCs often form multiple PSDs with one rod; and neighboring RBCs share ~13\% of their inputs. Rod-RBC synapses develop while ~7\% of RBCs undergo programmed cell death (PCD). Although PCD is common throughout the nervous system, its influences on circuit development and function are not well understood. We generate mice in which ~53 and ~93\% of RBCs, respectively, are removed during development. In these mice, dendrites of the remaining RBCs expand in graded fashion independent of light-evoked input. As RBC dendrites expand, they form fewer multi-PSD contacts with rods. Electrophysiological recordings indicate that this homeostatic co-regulation of neurite and synapse development preserves retinal function in dim light.</p>
},
	doi = {10.1038/s41467-017-01332-7},
	url = {http://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-01332-7http://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-01332-7.pdfhttp://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-01332-7.pdfhttp://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-01332-7},
	author = {Johnson, Robert E. and Tien, Nai-Wen and Shen, Ning and Pearson, James T. and Soto, Florentina and Kerschensteiner, Daniel}
}
@article {65887,
	title = {Retrograde Plasticity and Differential Competition of Bipolar Cell Dendrites and Axons in the Developing Retina},
	journal = {Current Biology},
	volume = {24},
	year = {2014},
	month = {Jan/2014},
	pages = {2301 - 2306},
	abstract = {<p>Most neurons function in the context of pathways that process and propagate information through a series of stages, e.g., from the sensory periphery to cerebral cortex. Because activity at each stage of a neural pathway depends on connectivity at the preceding one, we hypothesized that during development, axonal output of a neuron may regulate synaptic development of its dendrites (i.e., retrograde plasticity). Within pathways, neurons often receive input from multiple partners and provide output to targets shared with other neurons (i.e., convergence). Converging axons can intermingle or occupy separate territories on target dendrites. Activity-dependent competition has been shown to bias target innervation by overlapping axons in several systems. By contrast, whether territorial axons or dendrites compete for targets and inputs, respectively, has not been tested. Here, we generate transgenic mice in which glutamate release from specific sets of retinal bipolar cells (BCs) is suppressed. We find that dendrites of silenced BCs recruit fewer inputs when their neighbors are active and that dendrites of active BCs recruit more inputs when their neighbors are silenced than either active or silenced BCs with equal neighbors. By contrast, axons of silenced BCs form fewer synapses with their targets, irrespective of the activity of their neighbors. These findings reveal that retrograde plasticity guides BC dendritic development in vivo and demonstrate that dendrites, but not territorial axons, in a convergent neural pathway engage in activity-dependent competition. We propose that at a population level, retrograde plasticity serves to maximize functional representation of inputs.</p>
},
	issn = {09609822},
	doi = {10.1016/j.cub.2014.08.018},
	url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0960982214010318https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0960982214010318?httpAccept=text/xmlhttps://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0960982214010318?httpAccept=text/plain},
	author = {Johnson, Robert~E. and Kerschensteiner, Daniel}
}
