Clustered synaptic inputs likely enable extended dendritic branches and filopodia to test for correlated input activity from several potential presynaptic partners ( Stepanyants et al., 2002). Similarly, MSBs enable presynaptic axons to sample several postsynaptic partners. Together activity-dependent synapse elimination and maturation contribute to the experience-dependent refinement of the retinotectal projection. In conclusion, this study combined in vivo time-lapse two-photon imaging with serial section EM-based 3D reconstruction of two intrinsic optic tectal neurons to identify the mechanisms of synaptic refinement during circuit development. By interpreting ultrastructural features of synaptic connectivity in light
of structural dynamics of axons and dendrites, we demonstrate a prominent role of synapse elimination in experience-dependent click here circuit refinement. In light of the considerable attention now being focused on the possibility of determining connectivity maps of Ku-0059436 concentration CNS circuits (Bohland
et al., 2009, Chou et al., 2010, Lichtman et al., 2008 and Lu et al., 2009), this study demonstrates the degree of microcircuit dynamics that can occur in the developing CNS. All experimental protocols were approved by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Animal Care and Use Committee and complied with the guidelines established in the Public Health Service Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. Single optic tectal neurons in stage 44 Xenopus laevis tadpoles were transfected by single-cell electroporation ( Bestman aminophylline et al., 2006) with a construct with two CMV promoters that expresses both EGFP and mHRP, called pCMV::EGFP/mHRP, as described in detail ( Li et al., 2010). We collected two-photon images once a day over 3 days (day 1, 2, and 3) or every 4 hr over 8 hr
(0 hr, 4 hr, 8 hr) and arbor structure was analyzed as described previously ( Ruthazer et al., 2004) and in more detail in Supplemental Experimental Procedures. Tissue was processed for electron microscopy as described in detail in Supplemental Experimental Procedures and in (Li et al., 2010). We used RECONSTRUCT software (freely available from www.synapses.clm.utexas.edu) (Fiala, 2005) for 3D reconstruction (Li and Cline, 2010). Detailed descriptions of the methods used to quantify synaptic maturation and divergence of contacts from individual presynaptic boutons during CNS development have been published (Haas et al., 2006 and Li and Cline, 2010) and are described in Supplemental Experimental Procedures. The Mann-Whitney test was used for statistical comparisons between two data sets. The Kruskal-Wallis test with post hoc analysis was used for comparison among three groups. Data are presented as mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM), and all error bars are SEM. The alpha of the confidence level was set at 0.05. This work was supported by the NIH (RO1 EY-011261, EY-011261-14S1, DP10D000458 [H.C.] and RO1-EY12138 [A.E.