Publication Date
7-19-2023
Journal
The Journal of Neuroscience
DOI
10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0063-23.2023
PMID
37369589
PMCID
PMC10359034
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
7-19-2023
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post-print
Published Open-Access
yes
Keywords
Male, Mice, Female, Animals, Spectrin, Cytoskeletal Proteins, Neurons, Cytoskeleton, neurodevelopment, retina, spectrins, synapse
Abstract
Neural circuit assembly is a multistep process where synaptic partners are often born at distinct developmental stages, and yet they must find each other and form precise synaptic connections with one another. This developmental process often relies on late-born neurons extending their processes to the appropriate layer to find and make synaptic connections to their early-born targets. The molecular mechanism responsible for the integration of late-born neurons into an emerging neural circuit remains unclear. Here, we uncovered a new role for the cytoskeletal protein βII-spectrin in properly positioning presynaptic and postsynaptic neurons to the developing synaptic layer. Loss of βII-spectrin disrupts retinal lamination, leads to synaptic connectivity defects, and results in impaired visual function in both male and female mice. Together, these findings highlight a new function of βII-spectrin in assembling neural circuits in the mouse outer retina.