Mature mammalian neurons have a limited ability to extend neurites and make new synaptic connections, but the mechanisms that inhibit such plasticity remain poorly understood. Here, we report that OFF-type retinal bipolar cells in mice are an exception to this rule, as they form new anatomical connections within their tiled dendritic fields well after retinal maturity. The Down syndrome cell-adhesion molecule (Dscam) confines these anatomical rearrangements within the normal tiled fields, as conditional deletion of the gene permits extension of dendrite and axon arbors beyond these borders. Dscam deletion in the mature retina results in expanded dendritic fields and increased cone photoreceptor contacts, demonstrating that DSCAM actively inhibits circuit-level plasticity. Electrophysiological recordings from Dscam-/- OFF bipolar cells showed enlarged visual receptive fields, demonstrating that expanded dendritic territories comprise functional synapses. Our results identify cell-adhesion molecule-mediated inhibition as a regulator of circuit-level neuronal plasticity in the adult retina.
Keywords: avoidance; bipolar cell; dendritic arbor; plasticity; retina.