Interrelationships between Cellular Density, Mosaic Patterning, and Dendritic Coverage of VGluT3 Amacrine Cells.

Amacrine cells of the retina are conspicuously variable in their morphologies, their population demographics, and their ensuing functions. Vesicular glutamate transporter 3 (VGluT3) amacrine cells are a recently characterized type of amacrine cell exhibiting local dendritic autonomy. The present analysis has examined three features of this VGluT3 population, including their density, local distribution, and dendritic spread, to discern the extent to which these are interrelated, using male and female mice. We first demonstrate that Bax-mediated cell death transforms the mosaic of VGluT3 cells from a random distribution into a regular mosaic. We subsequently examine the relationship between cell density and mosaic regularity across recombinant inbred strains of mice, finding that, although both traits vary across the strains, they exhibit minimal covariation. Other genetic determinants must therefore contribute independently to final cell number and to mosaic order. Using a conditional KO approach, we further demonstrate that Bax acts via the bipolar cell population, rather than cell-intrinsically, to control VGluT3 cell number. Finally, we consider the relationship between the dendritic arbors of single VGluT3 cells and the distribution of their homotypic neighbors. Dendritic field area was found to be independent of Voronoi domain area, while dendritic coverage of single cells was not conserved, simply increasing with the size of the dendritic field. Bax-KO retinas exhibited a threefold increase in dendritic coverage. Each cell, however, contributed less dendrites at each depth within the plexus, intermingling their processes with those of neighboring cells to approximate a constant volumetric density, yielding a uniformity in process coverage across the population.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Different types of retinal neuron spread their processes across the surface of the retina to achieve a degree of dendritic coverage that is characteristic of each type. Many of these types achieve a constant coverage by varying their dendritic field area inversely with the local density of like-type neighbors. Here we report a population of retinal amacrine cells that do not develop dendritic arbors in relation to the spatial positioning of such homotypic neighbors; rather, this cell type modulates the extent of its dendritic branching when faced with a variable number of overlapping dendritic fields to approximate a uniformity in dendritic density across the retina.

Sox2 regulates cholinergic amacrine cell positioning and dendritic stratification in the retina.

The retina contains two populations of cholinergic amacrine cells, one positioned in the ganglion cell layer (GCL) and the other in the inner nuclear layer (INL), that together comprise ∼1/2 of a percent of all retinal neurons. The present study examined the genetic control of cholinergic amacrine cell number and distribution between these two layers. The total number of cholinergic amacrine cells was quantified in the C57BL/6J and A/J inbred mouse strains, and in 25 recombinant inbred strains derived from them, and variations in their number and ratio (GCL/INL) across these strains were mapped to genomic loci. The total cholinergic amacrine cell number was found to vary across the strains, from 27,000 to 40,000 cells, despite little variation within individual strains. The number of cells was always lower within the GCL relative to the INL, and the sizes of the two populations were strongly correlated, yet there was variation in their ratio between the strains. Approximately 1/3 of that variation in cell ratio was mapped to a locus on chromosome 3, where Sex determining region Y box 2 (Sox2) was identified as a candidate gene due to the presence of a 6-nucleotide insertion in the protein-coding sequence in C57BL/6J and because of robust and selective expression in cholinergic amacrine cells. Conditionally deleting Sox2 from the population of nascent cholinergic amacrine cells perturbed the normal ratio of cells situated in the GCL versus the INL and induced a bistratifying morphology, with dendrites distributed to both ON and OFF strata within the inner plexiform layer.

Programmed cell death of retinal cone bipolar cells is independent of afferent or target control.

Programmed cell death contributes to the histogenesis of the nervous system, and is believed to be modulated through the sustaining effects of afferents and targets during the period of synaptogenesis. Cone bipolar cells undergo programmed cell death during development, and we confirm that the numbers of three different types are increased when the pro-apoptotic Bax gene is knocked out. When their cone afferents are selectively eliminated, or when the population of retinal ganglion cells is increased, however, cone bipolar cell number remains unchanged. Programmed cell death of the cone bipolar cell populations, therefore, may be modulated cell-intrinsically rather than via interactions with these synaptic partners.

Independent genomic control of neuronal number across retinal cell types.

The sizes of different neuronal populations within the CNS are precisely controlled, but whether neuronal number is coordinated between cell types is unknown. We examined the covariance structure of 12 different retinal cell types across 30 genetically distinct lines of mice, finding minimal covariation when comparing synaptically connected or developmentally related cell types. Variation mapped to one or more genomic loci for each cell type, but rarely were these shared, indicating minimal genetic coregulation of final number. Multiple genes, therefore, participate in the specification of the size of every population of retinal neuron, yet genetic variants work largely independent of one another during development to modulate those numbers, yielding substantial variability in the convergence ratios between pre- and postsynaptic populations. Density-dependent cellular interactions in the outer plexiform layer overcome this variability to ensure the formation of neuronal circuits that maintain constant retinal coverage and complete afferent sampling.