ArticleFrontiers in synaptic neuroscience2026
Patterned pre-sensory spontaneous activity drives the structural refinement of developing cochlear ribbon synapses.
Article in Frontiers in synaptic neuroscience, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Dynamic structural plasticity facilitates the developmental assembly of cochlear inner hair cell ribbon synapses.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026Article
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Abstract
Introduction: In the mammalian cochlea, hearing relies on highly specialized ribbon-type synapses between sensory inner hair cells (IHCs) and postsynaptic spiral ganglion neurons. During early postnatal maturation, structural and functional refinements re-shape synaptic morphology and thereby maximize release efficiency in the run-up to hearing onset. This developmental period is further characterized by the occurrence of pre-sensory spontaneous activity waves, which are essential for the functional maturation of the ascending auditory pathway- yet, their importance for IHC presynaptic structural refinement remains uncertain. Methods: To investigate activity-dependent structural plasticity at cochlear ribbon synapses, we combined genetic, pharmacological, and optogenetic approaches with immunohistochemical and electrophysiological analyses. Moreover, we developed a novel optical stimulation device (OSD) that enables millisecond-precise, long-term and differentially-patterned optogenetic activation of cochlear IHCs under tightly controlled conditions within a standard tissue culture incubator. Results: Using this experimental framework, we show that positive as well as negative activity modulation triggers dynamic and rapidly-inducible homeostatic scaling of ribbon synapse morphology. Moreover, our data indicate that the temporal pattern of the presynaptic activity acts as a fundamental regulatory component of this process. Discussion: Our results suggest that - prior to hearing onset - pre-sensory synaptic activity plays a critical role in shaping cochlear ribbon synapse architecture in the developing auditory system.
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