Previous studies have identified a novel oncogene, rgr, which has homology to the guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) Ral guanine dissociation stimulator (RALGDS). To determine the mechanism of activation of rgr, the wild-type form was isolated. rgr is expressed physiologically at very low levels, due, at least in part, to a long 5'-untranslated region that contains eight AUGs, which inhib...

PURPOSE Rare mutations in the human RGR gene lead to autosomal recessive retinitis pigmentosa or dominantly inherited peripapillary choroidal atrophy. Here, we analyze a common exon-skipping isoform of the human retinal G protein-coupled receptor opsin (RGR-d) to determine differences in subcellular targeting between RGR-d and normal RGR and possible association with abnormal traits in the huma...

PURPOSE Human retina and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) express a relatively abundant mRNA that encodes an extraneous splice isoform of the RPE retinal G protein-coupled receptor (RGR) opsin. In this study, we investigate this exon-skipping RGR splice isoform (RGR-d) in separated neural retina and RPE cells of human donors of various ages. METHODS We used mass spectrometry, sensitive wester...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Plant relative growth rate (RGR) depends on biomass allocation to leaves (leaf mass fraction, LMF), efficient construction of leaf surface area (specific leaf area, SLA) and biomass growth per unit leaf area (net assimilation rate, NAR). Functional groups of species may differ in any of these traits, potentially resulting in (1) differences in mean RGR of groups, and (2) dif...

PURPOSE The aim of this study is to isolate and characterize cDNA clones and the genes that encode mouse RPE retinal G protein-coupled receptor (RGR) and to analyze expression of the RGR gene in the developing mouse retina. The conserved amino acid sequences of RGR from various mammals can be compared to the amino acid sequence motif of G protein-coupled receptors. METHODS Mouse RGR cDNA and ...

To study the oncogenic potential of Rgr in vivo, we have generated several transgenic Rgr mouse lines, which express the oncogene under the control of different promoters. These studies revealed that Rgr expression leads to the generation of various pathological alterations, including fibrosarcomas, when its transgenic expression is restricted to nonlymphoid tissues. Moreover, the overall incid...

The recent identification of nonvisual opsins has revealed an expanding family of vertebrate opsin genes. The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and Müller cells contain a blue and UV light-absorbing opsin, the RPE retinal G protein-coupled receptor (RGR, or RGR opsin). The spectral properties of RGR purified from bovine RPE suggest that RGR is conjugated in vivo to a retinal chromophore through ...

The retinal G protein-coupled receptor (RGR) is a protein that structurally resembles visual pigments and other G protein-coupled receptors. RGR may play a role as a photoisomerase in the production of 11-cis-retinal, the chromophore of the visual pigments. As the proposed function of RGR, in a complex with 11-cis-retinol dehydrogenase (RDH5), is to regenerate 11-cis-retinal under light conditi...

In classical growth analysis, relative growth rate (RGR) is calculated as RGR = (ln W2 - ln W1)/(t2 - t1), where W1 and W2 are plant dry weights at times t1 and t2. Since RGR is usually calculated using destructive harvests of several individuals, an obvious approach is to substitute W1 and W2 with sample means W1 and W2. Here we demonstrate that this approach yields a biased estimate of RGR wh...

Growth rates of seedlings of eight tropical rain forest tree species were compared under five different canopy openness levels (FU and 50, 200, 800, 3200 m gaps). RGR exhibited a positive relation with canopy openness with species attaining their highest RGR at the 800 m (4 species) or 3200 m (3 species) gaps. Seed mass and RGR were negatively related. The increase in RGR between small and larg...