Apoptosis and HERDS are related to physiological activity in embryonic turtle retina

Abstract

Apotosis in vertebrate retina occurs in three stages during development. The third of these stages coincides wit the synaptogenesis between ganglion cell axons and their targets, with the time when electrophysiological activity become important. In turtles, we have shown that emergence of synapses are necessary for triggering the appearance of spontaneous waves of activity. This occurs at Stage 22 (S22) of embryogeny. In turn, emergence of ganglion-cell light responses require the maturation of photoreceptors at S23. In this work we establish the temporal relationship between apoptosis, synaptogenesis, and electrophysiological activity in turtle retinas.