Neuronal synapses are stabilised by activity-dependent vesicular release from oligodendrocyte precursor cells

2026 · doi:10.64898/2026.02.03.701391
preprint OA: closed CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
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Abstract

Activity-dependent regulation of synapses has long been attributed to interactions between neurons alone. Here, using in vivo imaging in the zebrafish visual system we show that one type of glia called the oligodendrocyte precursor cell (OPC) closely interacts with pre-synapses of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axons, and exhibits activity-dependent Vamp2/3-mediated vesicular release. Critically, blocking OPC vesicle release using botulinum toxin, and silencing OPC activity integration through dampening calcium signalling, destabilises RGC pre-synapses. These observations suggest that OPCs provide a non-neuronal pathway for activity-dependent feedback to shape circuit wiring.
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Abstract Activity-dependent regulation of synapses has long been attributed to interactions between neurons alone. Here, using in vivo imaging in the zebrafish visual system we show that one type of glia called the oligodendrocyte precursor cell (OPC) closely interacts with pre-synapses of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axons, and exhibits activity-dependent Vamp2/3-mediated vesicular release. Critically, blocking OPC vesicle release using botulinum toxin, and silencing OPC activity integration through dampening calcium signalling, destabilises RGC pre-synapses. These observations suggest that OPCs provide a non-neuronal pathway for activity-dependent feedback to shape circuit wiring. Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Funder Information Declared European Research Council, 714440, 101096064 Wellcome Trust, https://ror.org/029chgv08, 224497/Z/21/Z Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, BB/V017012/1 National Academic Infrastructure for Supercomputing in Sweden, 2022-06725 Copyright The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.

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License: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0