Many photoreceptor degenerations initially affect rods, secondarily leading to cone death. It has long been assumed that the surviving neural retina is largely resistant to this sensory… (More)
Lecithin:retinol acyltransferase (LRAT) is believed to be the predominant if not the sole enzyme in the body responsible for the physiologic esterification of retinol. We have studied Lrat-deficient… (More)
Retinal guanylate cyclases 1 and 2 (GC1 and GC2) are responsible for synthesis of cyclic GMP in rods and cones, but their individual contributions to phototransduction are unknown. We report here… (More)
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences…
2001
The retina's photoreceptor cells adjust their sensitivity to allow photons to be transduced over a wide range of light intensities. One mechanism thought to participate in sensitivity adjustments is… (More)
Guanylyl cyclase activating protein (GCAP1) has been proposed to act as a calcium-dependent regulator of retinal photoreceptor guanylyl cyclase (GC) activity. Using immunocytochemical and biochemical… (More)
The Drosophila ninaE gene was isolated by a multistep protocol on the basis of its homology to bovine opsin cDNA. The gene encodes the major visual pigment protein (opsin) contained in Drosophila… (More)
UNC119 is widely expressed among vertebrates and other phyla. We found that UNC119 recognized the acylated N terminus of the rod photoreceptor transducin α (Tα) subunit and Caenorhabditis elegans G… (More)
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences…
1993
Autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (ADRP), slowly progressing over decades, leads to severe visual impairment and in some cases to complete blindness. More than 40 mutations in the human opsin… (More)
Bovine photoreceptor guanylate cyclase (ROS-GC) consists of a single transmembrane polypeptide chain with extracellular and intracellular domains. In contrast to non-photoreceptor guanylate cyclases… (More)
RDH12 has been suggested to be one of the retinol dehydrogenases (RDH) involved in the vitamin A recycling system (visual cycle) in the eye. Loss of function mutations in the RDH12 gene were recently… (More)