Abstract
Many oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) do not differentiate to form myelin, suggesting additional roles of this cell population. The zebrafish optic tectum contains OPCs in regions devoid of myelin. Elimination of these OPCs impaired precise control of retinal ganglion cell axon arbor size during formation and maturation of retinotectal connectivity and degraded functional processing of visual stimuli. Therefore, OPCs fine-tune neural circuits independently of their canonical role to make myelin.
Highlights
Many oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) do not differentiate to form myelin, suggesting additional roles of this cell population
Oligodendrocytes play crucial roles in modulating information processing through regulation of axon conduction and metabolism[1,2]
Myelinating oligodendrocytes arise by differentiation of OPCs, which are uniformly distributed across the central nervous system (CNS) and tile the tissue with their elaborate process networks[3]
Summary
Many oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) do not differentiate to form myelin, suggesting additional roles of this cell population. To test if OPCs within the tectum are of direct importance for functional sensory integration, we carried out in vivo calcium imaging of tectal neurons using Tg(elavl3:h2b-GCaMP6s) in response to light flashes in random positions around the visual field (Fig. 3i,j).
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