From mouse to primate: Retinal circuit disassembly and plasticity in glaucoma

Abstract

AbstractPrecise connections between synaptic partners are shaped during development to ensure proper neural circuit function, but how these connections are disassembled and rearranged after injury is less well understood. In glaucoma, the ganglion cell is injured but very little is known about how the presynaptic circuitry is perturbed. Furthermore, the ability to diagnose and treat glaucoma at an optimal stage before irreversible retinal ganglion cell loss occurs requires a comprehensive understanding of inner retina circuit disassembly and plasticity. Recent studies in rodent, including our work, suggest that specific ganglion cell types are more vulnerable to glaucomatous injury. In this talk I will discuss the specificity and timing of anatomic retinal circuit disassembly in mouse and primate experimental glaucoma and the potential for the adult diseased retina to exhibit plasticity. This work expands our knowledge of how adult neural circuits react and rearrange in the face of injury and permits the design of novel psychophysics testing paradigms and ganglion cell neuroprotection or regeneration strategies.