RT Journal
A1 Bjartmar, Lisa
A1 Huberman, Andrew D.
A1 Ullian, Erik M.
A1 Rentería, René C.
A1 Liu, Xiaoqin
A1 Xu, Weifeng
A1 Prezioso, Jennifer
A1 Susman, Michael W.
A1 Stellwagen, David
A1 Stokes, Caleb C.
A1 Cho, Richard
A1 Worley, Paul
A1 Malenka, Robert C.
A1 Ball, Sherry
A1 Peachey, Neal S.
A1 Copenhagen, David
A1 Chapman, Barbara
A1 Nakamoto, Masaru
A1 Barres, Ben A.
A1 Perin, Mark S.
T1 Neuronal Pentraxins Mediate Synaptic Refinement in the Developing Visual System
JF The Journal of Neuroscience 
JO The Journal of Neuroscience 
YR 2006 
FD June 07 
VO 26 
IS 23 
SP 6269 
OP 6281 
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4212-05.2006 
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/26/23/6269.abstract 
AB Neuronal pentraxins (NPs) define a family of proteins that are homologous to C-reactive and acute-phase proteins in the immune system and have been hypothesized to be involved in activity-dependent synaptic plasticity. To investigate the role of NPs in vivo, we generated mice that lack one, two, or all three NPs. NP1/2 knock-out mice exhibited defects in the segregation of eye-specific retinal ganglion cell (RGC) projections to the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus, a process that involves activity-dependent synapse formation and elimination. Retinas from mice lacking NP1 and NP2 had cholinergically driven waves of activity that occurred at a frequency similar to that of wild-type mice, but several other parameters of retinal activity were altered. RGCs cultured from these mice exhibited a significant delay in functional maturation of glutamatergic synapses. Other developmental processes, such as pathfinding of RGCs at the optic chiasm and hippocampal long-term potentiation and long-term depression, appeared normal in NP-deficient mice. These data indicate that NPs are necessary for early synaptic refinements in the mammalian retina and dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus. We speculate that NPs exert their effects through mechanisms that parallel the known role of short pentraxins outside the CNS.