Spatial correspondence between R-cadherin expression domains and retinal ganglion cell axons in developing zebrafish

Mechanisms underlying axonal pathfinding have been investigated for decades, and numerous molecules have been shown to play roles in this process, including members of the cadherin family of cell adhesion molecules. We showed in the companion paper that a member of the cadherin family (zebrafish R-cadherin) is expressed in retinal ganglion cells, and in presumptive visual structures in zebrafish brain, during periods when the axons were actively extending toward their targets. The present study extends the earlier work by using 1,1'-dioctadecyl-3,3,3',3', tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate (DiI) anterograde tracing techniques to label retinal ganglion cell axons combined with R-cadherin in situ hybridization to explicitly examine the association ofretinal axons and brain regions expressing R-cadherin message. We found that in zebrafish embryos at 46-54 hours postfertilization, DiI-labeled retinal axons were closely associated with cells expressing R-cadherin message in the hypothalamus, the pretectum, and the anterolateral optic tectum. These results demonstrate that R-cadherin is appropriately distributed to play a role in regulating development of the zebrafish visual system, and in particular, pathfinding and synaptogenesis of retinal ganglion cell axons.