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Updated: May 10, 2025
14:36
Isolation and Culture of Chick Ciliary Ganglion Neurons
Published on: August 8, 2020
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Activity-dependent refinement of axonal projections forms one-to-one connection pattern in the developing chick
Ryo Egawa1, Hiromu Yawo2, Hiroshi Kuba1
1Department of Cell Physiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan.
Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience
|April 24, 2025
Summary
Neural activity shapes developing axons to form precise one-to-one connections. This study in chick ciliary ganglia reveals how activity-dependent pruning and terminal maturation refine synaptic targets during development.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Biology
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Synaptic connections undergo activity-dependent remodeling.
- Mechanisms determining final target number per axon are unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate axonal projection morphology during development.
- Determine the influence of neural activity on synapse maturation in the chick ciliary ganglion (CG).
Main Methods:
- Single-axon tracing using Brainbow labeling.
- Advanced tissue clearing techniques.
- Genetic manipulation to silence neuronal activity (eTeNT, Kir2.1).
Main Results:
- By embryonic day 14, hundreds of axons formed one-to-one connections with single CG neurons.
- Synaptic connections matured from bouton-like to calyx-type terminals with concurrent axonal branch pruning.
- Activity silencing retarded calyx maturation, indicating activity-dependence.
Conclusions:
- Presynaptic mechanisms and synaptic competition restrict the number of postsynaptic targets per axon.
- The chick CG is a valuable model for studying presynaptic factors in circuit remodeling.
Keywords:
Brainbow labelingaxon pruningcalyx synapsein ovo electroporationsingle-axon tracingsynaptic competitiontissue clearingMore Related Videos
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