Brain-derived neurotrophic factor enhances expression of superior cervical ganglia clone 10 in lateral geniculate nucleus and visual cortex of developing kittens.

Neuronal growth-associated proteins, including superior cervical ganglia clone 10 (SCG10) family molecules, play roles in neurite outgrowth and network formation as well as structural and functional plasticity. The present ontogenetic study revealed that the expression of neuronal growth-associated proteins in the visual cortex (VC) exhibited a sharp peak in the early postnatal period when growing lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) axon terminals segregate into the ocular dominance columns depending on retinal activity. We then hypothesized that SCG10 family molecules, known for catastrophic factors of microtubules, play important roles in the formation of ocular dominance columns. To test this hypothesis, we studied whether: (i) monocular blockade of retinal activity changed the SCG10 expression in LGN and VC and (ii) brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) cortical infusion modified the expression of SCG10 family molecules and the number of excitatory/inhibitory cortical synapses. Using northern blot and in situ hybridization, we revealed that: (i) silencing retinal activity with tetrodotoxin eye injections dynamically reduced the expression of SCG10 mRNA and (ii) it was enhanced by BDNF in VC and LGN of kittens but not adult cats. These findings suggest that cortical infusion of BDNF and retinal activity up-regulate the expression of SCG10 in the LGN and VC and that up-regulated SCG10 in turn initiates marked reorganization of the microtuble network, eventually resulting in increase in synapse formation in the VC.