Published in

Society for Neuroscience, Journal of Neuroscience, 28(31), p. 10302-10310, 2011

DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1652-11.2011

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Genetic dissection of EphA receptor signaling dynamics during retinotopic mapping

Journal article published in 2011 by Nicholas Bevins, Greg Lemke, Michaël Reber ORCID
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) project axons from their cell bodies in the eye to targets in the superior colliculus (SC) of the midbrain. The wiring of these axons to their synaptic targets creates an ordered representation, or ‘map’, of retinal space within the brain. Many lines of experiment have demonstrated that the development of this map requires complementary gradients of EphA receptor tyrosine kinases and their ephrin-A ligands, yet basic features of EphA signaling during mapping remain to be resolved. These include the individual roles played by the multiple EphA receptors that make up the retinal EphA gradient. We have developed a set of ratiometric ‘Relative Signaling’ (RS) rules that quantitatively predict how the composite low-nasal-to-high-temporal EphA gradient is translated into topographic order among RGCs. A key feature of these rules is that the component receptors of the gradient – in the mouse, EphA4, EphA5, and EphA6 – must be functionally equivalent and interchangeable. To test this aspect of the model, we generated compound mutant mice in which the periodicity, slope, and receptor composition of the gradient is systematically altered with respect to the levels of EphA4, EphA5, and a closely related receptor EphA3 that we ectopically express. Analysis of the retinotopic maps of these new mouse mutants establishes the general utility of the RS rules for predicting retinocollicular topography, and demonstrates that individual EphA gene products are approximately equivalent with respect to axon guidance and target selection.