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Vision

Elusive light switch

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume 6, page 749 (2005)Cite this article

Light perception in vertebrates is mediated by rhodopsin, which is embedded in the disc membrane of rod cells. Rhodopsin is composed of a protein portion, opsin, which is a member of the G-protein-coupled receptor family, and a light-absorbing portion, 11-cis-retinaldehyde, which is a derivative of vitamin A.

Activation of rhodopsin starts with the absorption of light by 11-cis-retinaldehyde, which is then converted to all-trans-retinaldehyde and subsequently dissociates from opsin through a process known as photobleaching. Opsin itself is insensitive to light, and the regeneration of rhodopsin depends on a cascade of enzymatic reactions that converts all-trans-retinaldehyde back to 11-cis-retinaldehyde, completing the visual cycle. The key step in this cycle is the conversion of all-trans-retinyl palmitate into 11-cis-retinol, which is catalysed by an isomerase that has eluded researchers for more than two decades.

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References

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Jin, M. et al. Rpe65 is the retinoid isomerase in bovine retinal pigment epithelium. Cell 122, 449–459 (2005)

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FURTHER READING

  1. Arshavsky, V. Y. et al. G proteins and phototransduction. Annu. Rev. Physiol. 64, 153–178 (2002)

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Authors
  1. Jane Qiu
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Qiu, J. Elusive light switch. Nat Rev Neurosci 6, 749 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1778

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1778

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