Melanopsin Phototransduction: Great Excitement over a Poor Catch
نویسندگان
چکیده
A small subset of retinal output cells express the photopigment melanopsin, rendering them intrinsically light-sensitive. Recent work quantifies, for the first time, fundamental properties of their light response.
منابع مشابه
Loss of Gq/11 Genes Does Not Abolish Melanopsin Phototransduction
In mammals, a subset of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) expresses the photopigment melanopsin, which renders them intrinsically photosensitive (ipRGCs). These ipRGCs mediate various non-image-forming visual functions such as circadian photoentrainment and the pupillary light reflex (PLR). Melanopsin phototransduction begins with activation of a heterotrimeric G protein of unknown identity. Severa...
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STUDY OBJECTIVES Individual differences in sleep timing have been widely recognized and are of particular relevance in adolescents and young adults who often show mild to severely delayed sleep. The biological mechanisms underlying the between-subject variance remain to be determined. Recent human genetics studies showed an association between sleep timing and melanopsin gene variation, but sup...
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Melanopsin, expressed in a subset of retinal ganglion cells, mediates behavioral adaptation to ambient light and other non-image-forming photic responses. This has raised the possibility that pharmacological manipulation of melanopsin can modulate several central nervous system responses, including photophobia, sleep, circadian rhythms and neuroendocrine function. Here we describe the identific...
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Mammals rely upon three ocular photoreceptors to sense light: rods, cones, and intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs). Rods and cones resolve details in the visual scene. Conversely, ipRGCs integrate over time and space, primarily to support "non-image" vision. The integrative mechanisms of ipRGCs are enigmatic, particularly since these cells use a phototransduction motif ...
متن کاملMelanopsin Phototransduction Contributes to Light-Evoked Choroidal Expansion and Rod L-Type Calcium Channel Function In Vivo
Purpose In humans, rodents, and pigeons, the dark → light transition signals nonretinal brain tissue to increase choroidal thickness, a major control element of choroidal blood flow, and thus of photoreceptor and retinal pigment epithelium function. However, it is unclear which photopigments in the retina relay the light signal to the brain. Here, we test the hypothesis that melanopsin (Opn4)-r...
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عنوان ژورنال:
- Current Biology
دوره 19 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2009