Figure 3

Ferret VAChT-Sap treatment results in smaller and more frequent wave events concomitant with starburst amacrine cell loss. In control recordings, such as this example raster of a P6 saline recording, waves pass across the array every one to three minutes, with little spontaneous activity in between wave events (a, left panel). In contrast, waves occur more frequently and with smaller domains of propagating activity in Ferret VAChT-Sap-treated retinae (a right panel, P6 treated eye from same animal as in (a) left panel). Quantification of wave size reveals a significant decrease in the number of electrodes with spike activity per wave event in Ferret VAChT-Sap-treated retinae compared to controls (b). In addition to reducing wave size, treatment with Ferret VAChT-Sap leads to an increase in the number of independent wave events per minute relative to saline control values (c). The mean spike rates between controls and Ferret VAChT-Sap-treated retinae are not significantly different (d). Ferret VAChT-Sap treatment leads to a progressive decline in the density of SACs measured in retinae used for MEA recording over development relative to controls (e). All values represent mean ± SEM; the number of retinae/animals recorded for Ferret VAChT-Sap and Saline conditions at P2 was N = 6 and 5, P4 N = 7 and 4, P6 N = 7 and 6, P8 N = 7 and 6, and P10 N = 4 and 2 respectively. Statistics reflect two-tailed P values calculated from independent two-sample Student’s t-tests (*P <0.05, **P <0.01, ***P <0.001).