Sensory deprivation arrests cellular and synaptic development of the night-vision circuitry in the retina

Experience regulates synapse formation and function across sensory circuits. How inhibitory synapses in the mammalian retina are sculpted by visual cues remains unclear. By use of a sensory deprivation paradigm, we find that visual cues regulate maturation of two GABA synapse types (GABA_A and GABA_C receptor synapses), localized across the axon terminals of rod bipolar cells (RBCs)-second-order retinal neurons integral to the night-vision circuit. Lack of visual cues causes GABA_A synapses at RBC terminals to retain an immature receptor configuration with slower response profiles and prevents receptor recruitment at GABA_C synapses. Additionally, the organizing protein for both these GABA synapses, LRRTM4, is not clustered at dark-reared RBC synapses. Ultrastructurally, the total number of ribbon-output/inhibitory-input synapses across RBC terminals remains unaltered by sensory deprivation, although ribbon synapse output sites are misarranged when the circuit develops without visual cues. Intrinsic electrophysiological properties of RBCs and expression of chloride transporters across RBC terminals are additionally altered by sensory deprivation. Introduction to normal 12-h light-dark housing conditions facilitates maturation of dark-reared RBC GABA synapses and restoration of intrinsic RBC properties, unveiling a new element of light-dependent retinal cellular and synaptic plasticity.