Dreosti, E., B. Odermatt, M.M. Dorostkar, and L. Lagnado. (2009).
A genetically encoded reporter of synaptic activity in vivo.
Nature Methods, 6, 883-889.
Dreosti, E., F. Esposti, T. Baden, and L. Lagnado. (2011).
In vivo evidence that retinal bipolar cells generate spikes modulated by light.
Nature Neuroscience, 14, 951-952.
Baden, T., F. Esposti, A. Nikolaev, and L. Lagnado. (2011).
Spikes in retinal bipolar cells phase-lock to visual stimuli with millisecond precision.
Current Biology, (In Press).
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Group Members
- Anton Nikolaev
- Congjian Zhao
- Federico Esposti
- Jamie Johnston
- Mathias Pasche
- Juliana Martins Da Rosa
- Astrid Munder
- Sofie-Helene Seibel
- Nachiket Kashikar
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The processing of information in the nervous system depends on rapid communication at the synapse by the release of neurotransmitters contained within small vesicles. We are investigating this process in the retina to understand how synapses transmit and transform the visual signal. One aim is to understand the machinery in the presynaptic terminal that controls the docking, fusion and retrieval of synaptic vesicles. These processes are studied in isolated neurons using a combination of electrophysiological and imaging methods.
We have uncovered some of the design principles of 'ribbon' synapses that transmit visual signals, as well as the mechanisms by which calcium influx controls the fusion and retrieval of synaptic vesicles. Our second major aim is to investigate the same synapses as they process visual information in the whole retinal circuit. We have developed fluorescent proteins that report the fusion and retrieval of synaptic vesicles and the presynaptic calcium signal triggering these processes.
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Neurons in the retina. Photoreceptors are in green, ON bipolar cells in red and a sub-class of amacrine cell in blue. |
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A : fluorescence image of a larval zebrafish expressing a fluorescent protein in ribbon synapses.
B : view from top showing the retinae and optic nerves crossing by the pineal organ. Asterisks show the optic tectum.
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Using multiphoton microscopy, these reporters allow the monitoring of activity at different levels in the retinal circuit as it responds to light, revealing the synaptic processes that transform the visual signal. Experiments on isolated neurons and the whole retinal circuit both make use of transgenic zebrafish. This vertebrate is a powerful system in which to study the function of the nervous system.
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Group Leaders 
