1
|
Hofmann KP, Lamb TD. Rhodopsin, light-sensor of vision. Prog Retin Eye Res 2023; 93:101116. [PMID: 36273969 DOI: 10.1016/j.preteyeres.2022.101116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2022] [Revised: 08/20/2022] [Accepted: 08/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
The light sensor of vertebrate scotopic (low-light) vision, rhodopsin, is a G-protein-coupled receptor comprising a polypeptide chain with bound chromophore, 11-cis-retinal, that exhibits remarkable physicochemical properties. This photopigment is extremely stable in the dark, yet its chromophore isomerises upon photon absorption with 70% efficiency, enabling the activation of its G-protein, transducin, with high efficiency. Rhodopsin's photochemical and biochemical activities occur over very different time-scales: the energy of retinaldehyde's excited state is stored in <1 ps in retinal-protein interactions, but it takes milliseconds for the catalytically active state to form, and many tens of minutes for the resting state to be restored. In this review, we describe the properties of rhodopsin and its role in rod phototransduction. We first introduce rhodopsin's gross structural features, its evolution, and the basic mechanisms of its activation. We then discuss light absorption and spectral sensitivity, photoreceptor electrical responses that result from the activity of individual rhodopsin molecules, and recovery of rhodopsin and the visual system from intense bleaching exposures. We then provide a detailed examination of rhodopsin's molecular structure and function, first in its dark state, and then in the active Meta states that govern its interactions with transducin, rhodopsin kinase and arrestin. While it is clear that rhodopsin's molecular properties are exquisitely honed for phototransduction, from starlight to dawn/dusk intensity levels, our understanding of how its molecular interactions determine the properties of scotopic vision remains incomplete. We describe potential future directions of research, and outline several major problems that remain to be solved.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Klaus Peter Hofmann
- Institut für Medizinische Physik und Biophysik (CC2), Charité, and, Zentrum für Biophysik und Bioinformatik, Humboldt-Unversität zu Berlin, Berlin, 10117, Germany.
| | - Trevor D Lamb
- Eccles Institute of Neuroscience, John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Abstract
G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling is crucial for many physiological processes. A signature of such pathways is high amplification, a concept originating from retinal rod phototransduction, whereby one photoactivated rhodopsin molecule (Rho*) was long reported to activate several hundred transducins (GT*s), each then activating a cGMP-phosphodiesterase catalytic subunit (GT*·PDE*). This high gain at the Rho*-to-GT* step has been challenged more recently, but estimates remain dispersed and rely on some nonintact rod measurements. With two independent approaches, one with an extremely inefficient mutant rhodopsin and the other with WT bleached rhodopsin, which has exceedingly weak constitutive activity in darkness, we obtained an estimate for the electrical effect from a single GT*·PDE* molecular complex in intact mouse rods. Comparing the single-GT*·PDE* effect to the WT single-photon response, both in Gcaps-/- background, gives an effective gain of only ∼12-14 GT*·PDE*s produced per Rho*. Our findings have finally dispelled the entrenched concept of very high gain at the receptor-to-G protein/effector step in GPCR systems.
Collapse
|
3
|
Apo-Opsin Exists in Equilibrium Between a Predominant Inactive and a Rare Highly Active State. J Neurosci 2018; 39:212-223. [PMID: 30459230 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1980-18.2018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2018] [Revised: 10/30/2018] [Accepted: 11/04/2018] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Bleaching adaptation in rod photoreceptors is mediated by apo-opsin, which activates phototransduction with effective activity 105- to 106-fold lower than that of photoactivated rhodopsin (meta II). However, the mechanism that produces such low opsin activity is unknown. To address this question, we sought to record single opsin responses in mouse rods. We used mutant mice lacking efficient calcium feedback to boosts rod responses and generated a small fraction of opsin by photobleaching ∼1% of rhodopsin. The bleach produced a dramatic increase in the frequency of discrete photoresponse-like events. This activity persisted for hours, was quenched by 11-cis-retinal, and was blocked by uncoupling opsin from phototransduction, all indicating opsin as its source. Opsin-driven discrete activity was also observed in rods containing non-activatable rhodopsin, ruling out transactivation of rhodopsin by opsin. We conclude that bleaching adaptation is mediated by opsin that exists in equilibrium between a predominant inactive and a rare meta II-like state.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Electrophysiological analysis is used to show that the G-protein-coupled receptor opsin exists in equilibrium between a predominant inactive and a rare highly active state that mediates bleaching adaptation in photoreceptors.
Collapse
|
4
|
Stockman A, Henning GB, Smithson HE, Rider AT. Delayed S-cone sensitivity losses following the onset of intense yellow backgrounds linked to the lifetime of a photobleaching product? J Vis 2018; 18:12. [PMID: 30029223 DOI: 10.1167/18.6.12] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Thirty years ago, Mollon, Stockman, & Polden (1987) reported that after the onset of intense yellow 581-nm backgrounds, S-cone threshold rose unexpectedly for several seconds before recovering to the light-adapted steady-state value-an effect they called: "transient-tritanopia of the second kind" (TT2). Given that 581-nm lights have little direct effect on S-cones, TT2 must arise indirectly from the backgrounds' effects on the L- and M-cones. We attribute the phenomenon to the action of an unknown L- and M-cone photobleaching product, X, which acts at their outputs like an "equivalent" background light that then inhibits S-cones at a cone-opponent, second-site. The time-course of TT2 is similar in form to the lifetime of X in a two-stage, first-order biochemical reaction A→X→C with successive best-fitting time-constants of 3.09 ± 0.35 and 7.73 ± 0.70 s. Alternatively, with an additional slowly recovering exponential "restoring-force" with a best-fitting time-constant 23.94 ± 1.42 s, the two-stage best-fitting time-constants become 4.15 ± 0.62 and 6.79 ± 1.00 s. Because the time-constants are roughly independent of the background illumination, and thus the rate of photoisomerization, A→X is likely to be a reaction subsidiary to the retinoid cycle, perhaps acting as a buffer when the bleaching rate is too high. X seems to be logarithmically related to S-cone threshold, which may result from the logarithmic cone-opponent, second-site response compression after multiplicative first-site adaptation. The restoring-force may be the same cone-opponent force that sets the rate of S-cone recovery following the unusual threshold increase following the offset of dimmer yellow backgrounds, an effect known as "transient-tritanopia" (TT1).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Stockman
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, UK
| | - G Bruce Henning
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Hannah E Smithson
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Andrew T Rider
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, UK
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Frederiksen R, Nymark S, Kolesnikov AV, Berry JD, Adler L, Koutalos Y, Kefalov VJ, Cornwall MC. Rhodopsin kinase and arrestin binding control the decay of photoactivated rhodopsin and dark adaptation of mouse rods. J Gen Physiol 2017; 148:1-11. [PMID: 27353443 PMCID: PMC4924931 DOI: 10.1085/jgp.201511538] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2015] [Accepted: 06/06/2016] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
G-protein receptor kinase and arrestin 1 are required for inactivation of photoactivated vertebrate rhodopsin. Frederiksen et al. show that they additionally regulate the subsequent decay of inactive rhodopsin into opsin and all-trans retinal and therefore dark adaptation. Photoactivation of vertebrate rhodopsin converts it to the physiologically active Meta II (R*) state, which triggers the rod light response. Meta II is rapidly inactivated by the phosphorylation of C-terminal serine and threonine residues by G-protein receptor kinase (Grk1) and subsequent binding of arrestin 1 (Arr1). Meta II exists in equilibrium with the more stable inactive form of rhodopsin, Meta III. Dark adaptation of rods requires the complete thermal decay of Meta II/Meta III into opsin and all-trans retinal and the subsequent regeneration of rhodopsin with 11-cis retinal chromophore. In this study, we examine the regulation of Meta III decay by Grk1 and Arr1 in intact mouse rods and their effect on rod dark adaptation. We measure the rates of Meta III decay in isolated retinas of wild-type (WT), Grk1-deficient (Grk1−/−), Arr1-deficient (Arr1−/−), and Arr1-overexpressing (Arr1ox) mice. We find that in WT mouse rods, Meta III peaks ∼6 min after rhodopsin activation and decays with a time constant (τ) of 17 min. Meta III decay slows in Arr1−/− rods (τ of ∼27 min), whereas it accelerates in Arr1ox rods (τ of ∼8 min) and Grk1−/− rods (τ of ∼13 min). In all cases, regeneration of rhodopsin with exogenous 11-cis retinal is rate limited by the decay of Meta III. Notably, the kinetics of rod dark adaptation in vivo is also modulated by the levels of Arr1 and Grk1. We conclude that, in addition to their well-established roles in Meta II inactivation, Grk1 and Arr1 can modulate the kinetics of Meta III decay and rod dark adaptation in vivo.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rikard Frederiksen
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118
| | - Soile Nymark
- Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering, BioMediTech, Tampere University of Technology, 33720 Tampere, Finland
| | - Alexander V Kolesnikov
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110
| | - Justin D Berry
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118
| | - Leopold Adler
- Department of Ophthalmology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425
| | - Yiannis Koutalos
- Department of Ophthalmology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425
| | - Vladimir J Kefalov
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110
| | - M Carter Cornwall
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Sexton TJ, Golczak M, Palczewski K, Van Gelder RN. Melanopsin is highly resistant to light and chemical bleaching in vivo. J Biol Chem 2012; 287:20888-97. [PMID: 22547062 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m111.325969] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Melanopsin is the photopigment of mammalian intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells, where it contributes to light entrainment of circadian rhythms, and to the pupillary light response. Previous work has shown that the melanopsin photocycle is independent of that used by rhodopsin (Tu, D. C., Owens, L. A., Anderson, L., Golczak, M., Doyle, S. E., McCall, M., Menaker, M., Palczewski, K., and Van Gelder, R. N. (2006) Inner retinal photoreception independent of the visual retinoid cycle. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 103, 10426-10431). Here we determined the ability of apo-melanopsin, formed by ex vivo UV light bleaching, to use selected chromophores. We found that 9-cis-retinal, but not all-trans-retinal or 9-cis-retinol, is able to restore light-dependent ipRGC activity after bleaching. Melanopsin was highly resistant to both visible-spectrum photic bleaching and chemical bleaching with hydroxylamine under conditions that fully bleach rod and cone photoreceptor cells. These results suggest that the melanopsin photocycle can function independently of both rod and cone photocycles, and that apo-melanopsin has a strong preference for binding cis-retinal to generate functional pigment. The data support a model in which retinal is continuously covalently bound to melanopsin and may function through a reversible, bistable mechanism.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Timothy J Sexton
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
7
|
Kefalov VJ. Rod and cone visual pigments and phototransduction through pharmacological, genetic, and physiological approaches. J Biol Chem 2011; 287:1635-41. [PMID: 22074928 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.r111.303008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Activation of the visual pigment by light in rod and cone photoreceptors initiates our visual perception. As a result, the signaling properties of visual pigments, consisting of a protein, opsin, and a chromophore, 11-cis-retinal, play a key role in shaping the light responses of photoreceptors. The combination of pharmacological, physiological, and genetic tools has been a powerful approach advancing our understanding of the interactions between opsin and chromophore and how they affect the function of visual pigments. The signaling properties of the visual pigments modulate many aspects of the function of rods and cones, producing their unique physiological properties.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Vladimir J Kefalov
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Reuter T. Fifty years of dark adaptation 1961–2011. Vision Res 2011; 51:2243-62. [DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2011.08.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2010] [Revised: 08/24/2011] [Accepted: 08/24/2011] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
|
9
|
Piechnick R, Heck M, Sommer ME. Alkylated hydroxylamine derivatives eliminate peripheral retinylidene Schiff bases but cannot enter the retinal binding pocket of light-activated rhodopsin. Biochemistry 2011; 50:7168-76. [PMID: 21766795 DOI: 10.1021/bi200675y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Besides Lys-296 in the binding pocket of opsin, all-trans-retinal forms adducts with peripheral lysine residues and phospholipids, thereby mimicking the spectral and chemical properties of metarhodopsin species. These pseudophotoproducts composed of nonspecific retinylidene Schiff bases have long plagued the investigation of rhodopsin deactivation and identification of decay products. We discovered that, while hydroxylamine can enter the retinal binding pocket of light-activated rhodopsin, the modified hydroxylamine compounds o-methylhydroxylamine (mHA), o-ethylhydroxylamine (eHA), o-tert-butylhydroxylamine (t-bHA), and o-(carboxymethyl)hydroxylamine (cmHA) are excluded. However, the alkylated hydroxylamines react quickly and efficiently with exposed retinylidene Schiff bases to form their respective retinal oximes. We further investigated how t-bHA affects light-activated rhodopsin and its interaction with binding partners. We found that both metarhodopsin II (Meta II) and Meta III are resistant to t-bHA, and neither arrestin nor transducin binding is affected by t-bHA. This discovery suggests that the hypothetical solvent channel that opens in light-activated rhodopsin is extremely stringent with regard to size and/or polarity. We believe that alkylated hydroxylamines will prove to be extremely useful reagents for the investigation of rhodopsin activation and decay mechanisms. Furthermore, the use of alkylated hydroxylamines should not be limited to in vitro studies and could help elucidate visual signal transduction mechanisms in the living cells of the retina.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ronny Piechnick
- Institut für Medizinische Physik und Biophysik (CC2), Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, D-10117 Berlin, Germany
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
10
|
Nemargut JP, Wang GY. Inhibition of nitric oxide synthase desensitizes retinal ganglion cells to light by diminishing their excitatory synaptic currents under light adaptation. Vision Res 2009; 49:2936-47. [PMID: 19772868 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2009.09.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2009] [Revised: 09/11/2009] [Accepted: 09/16/2009] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
The effect of inhibiting nitric oxide synthase (NOS) on the visual responses of mouse retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) was studied under light adaptation by using patch-clamp recordings. The results demonstrated that NOS inhibitor, l-NAME, reduced the sensitivity of RGCs to light under light adaptation at different ambient light conditions. These observations were seen in all cells that recordings were made from. l-NAME diminished the excitatory synaptic currents (EPSCs), rather than increasing the inhibitory synaptic currents, of RGCs to reduce the sensitivity of RGCs to light. Cones may be the sites that l-NAME acted to diminish the EPSCs of RGCs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Joseph P Nemargut
- Department of Structural and Cellular Biology, School of Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70112, United States
| | | |
Collapse
|
11
|
Estevez ME, Kolesnikov AV, Ala-Laurila P, Crouch RK, Govardovskii VI, Cornwall MC. The 9-methyl group of retinal is essential for rapid Meta II decay and phototransduction quenching in red cones. J Gen Physiol 2009; 134:137-50. [PMID: 19635855 PMCID: PMC2717693 DOI: 10.1085/jgp.200910232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2009] [Accepted: 07/13/2009] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Cone photoreceptors of the vertebrate retina terminate their response to light much faster than rod photoreceptors. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this rapid response termination in cones are poorly understood. The experiments presented here tested two related hypotheses: first, that the rapid decay rate of metarhodopsin (Meta) II in red-sensitive cones depends on interactions between the 9-methyl group of retinal and the opsin part of the pigment molecule, and second, that rapid Meta II decay is critical for rapid recovery from saturation of red-sensitive cones after exposure to bright light. Microspectrophotometric measurements of pigment photolysis, microfluorometric measurements of retinol production, and single-cell electrophysiological recordings of flash responses of salamander cones were performed to test these hypotheses. In all cases, cones were bleached and their visual pigment was regenerated with either 11-cis retinal or with 11-cis 9-demethyl retinal, an analogue of retinal lacking the 9-methyl group. Meta II decay was four to five times slower and subsequent retinol production was three to four times slower in red-sensitive cones lacking the 9-methyl group of retinal. This was accompanied by a significant slowing of the recovery from saturation in cones lacking the 9-methyl group after exposure to bright (>0.1% visual pigment photoactivated) but not dim light. A mathematical model of the turn-off process of phototransduction revealed that the slower recovery of photoresponse can be explained by slower Meta decay of 9-demethyl visual pigment. These results demonstrate that the 9-methyl group of retinal is required for steric chromophore-opsin interactions that favor both the rapid decay of Meta II and the rapid response recovery after exposure to bright light in red-sensitive cones.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Maureen E Estevez
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA.
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
12
|
Estevez ME, Ala-Laurila P, Crouch RK, Cornwall MC. Turning cones off: the role of the 9-methyl group of retinal in red cones. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2006; 128:671-85. [PMID: 17101818 PMCID: PMC2151603 DOI: 10.1085/jgp.200609630] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
Our ability to see in bright light depends critically on the rapid rate at which cone photoreceptors detect and adapt to changes in illumination. This is achieved, in part, by their rapid response termination. In this study, we investigate the hypothesis that this rapid termination of the response in red cones is dependent on interactions between the 9-methyl group of retinal and red cone opsin, which are required for timely metarhodopsin (Meta) II decay. We used single-cell electrical recordings of flash responses to assess the kinetics of response termination and to calculate guanylyl cyclase (GC) rates in salamander red cones containing native visual pigment as well as visual pigment regenerated with 11-cis 9-demethyl retinal, an analogue of retinal in which the 9-methyl group is missing. After exposure to bright light that photoactivated more than ∼0.2% of the pigment, red cones containing the analogue pigment had a slower recovery of both flash response amplitudes and GC rates (up to 10 times slower at high bleaches) than red cones containing 11-cis retinal. This finding is consistent with previously published biochemical data demonstrating that red cone opsin regenerated in vitro with 11-cis 9-demethyl retinal exhibited prolonged activation as a result of slowed Meta II decay. Our results suggest that two different mechanisms regulate the recovery of responsiveness in red cones after exposure to light. We propose a model in which the response recovery in red cones can be regulated (particularly at high light intensities) by the Meta II decay rate if that rate has been inhibited. In red cones, the interaction of the 9-methyl group of retinal with opsin promotes efficient Meta II decay and, thus, the rapid rate of recovery.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Maureen E Estevez
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA.
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
13
|
Kolesnikov AV, Ala-Laurila P, Shukolyukov SA, Crouch RK, Wiggert B, Estevez ME, Govardovskii VI, Cornwall MC. Visual cycle and its metabolic support in gecko photoreceptors. Vision Res 2006; 47:363-74. [PMID: 17049961 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2006.08.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2006] [Revised: 08/15/2006] [Accepted: 08/16/2006] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Photoreceptors of nocturnal geckos are transmuted cones that acquired rod morphological and physiological properties but retained cone-type phototransduction proteins. We have used microspectrophotometry and microfluorometry of solitary isolated green-sensitive photoreceptors of Tokay gecko to study the initial stages of the visual cycle within these cells. These stages are the photolysis of the visual pigment, the reduction of all-trans retinal to all-trans retinol, and the clearance of all-trans retinol from the outer segment (OS) into the interphotoreceptor space. We show that the rates of decay of metaproducts (all-trans retinal release) and retinal-to-retinol reduction are intermediate between those of typical rods and cones. Clearance of retinol from the OS proceeds at a rate that is typical of rods and is greatly accelerated by exposure to interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein, IRBP. The rate of retinal release from metaproducts is independent of the position within the OS, while its conversion to retinol is strongly spatially non-uniform, being the fastest at the OS base and slowest at the tip. This spatial gradient of retinol production is abolished by dialysis of saponin-permeabilized OSs with exogenous NADPH or substrates for its production by the hexose monophosphate pathway (NADP+glucose-6-phosphate or 6-phosphogluconate, glucose-6-phosphate alone). Following dialysis by these agents, retinol production is accelerated by several-fold compared to the fastest rates observed in intact cells in standard Ringer solution. We propose that the speed of retinol production is set by the availability of NADPH which in turn depends on ATP supply within the outer segment. We also suggest that principal source of this ATP is from mitochondria located within the ellipsoid region of the inner segment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- A V Kolesnikov
- Institute for Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
14
|
Holcman D, Korenbrot JI. The limit of photoreceptor sensitivity: molecular mechanisms of dark noise in retinal cones. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2005; 125:641-60. [PMID: 15928405 PMCID: PMC2234084 DOI: 10.1085/jgp.200509277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Detection threshold in cone photoreceptors requires the simultaneous absorption of several photons because single photon photocurrent is small in amplitude and does not exceed intrinsic fluctuations in the outer segment dark current (dark noise). To understand the mechanisms that limit light sensitivity, we characterized the molecular origin of dark noise in intact, isolated bass single cones. Dark noise is caused by continuous fluctuations in the cytoplasmic concentrations of both cGMP and Ca2+ that arise from the activity in darkness of both guanylate cyclase (GC), the enzyme that synthesizes cGMP, and phosphodiesterase (PDE), the enzyme that hydrolyzes it. In cones loaded with high concentration Ca2+ buffering agents, we demonstrate that variation in cGMP levels arise from fluctuations in the mean PDE enzymatic activity. The rates of PDE activation and inactivation determine the quantitative characteristics of the dark noise power density spectrum. We developed a mathematical model based on the dynamics of PDE activity that accurately predicts this power spectrum. Analysis of the experimental data with the theoretical model allows us to determine the rates of PDE activation and deactivation in the intact photoreceptor. In fish cones, the mean lifetime of active PDE at room temperature is ∼55 ms. In nonmammalian rods, in contrast, active PDE lifetime is ∼555 ms. This remarkable difference helps explain why cones are noisier than rods and why cone photocurrents are smaller in peak amplitude and faster in time course than those in rods. Both these features make cones less light sensitive than rods.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- David Holcman
- Keck Center for Theoretical Neurobiology and Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, University of California at San Francisco, 94143, USA
| | | |
Collapse
|
15
|
Firsov ML, Kolesnikov AV, Golobokova EY, Govardovskii VI. Two realms of dark adaptation. Vision Res 2005; 45:147-51. [PMID: 15581916 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2004.08.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2004] [Revised: 08/06/2004] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
The recovery of rod responsiveness after saturating flashes is greatly retarded above a certain critical level of rhodopsin bleaching (approximately 0.1%). A mathematical description of the process of turn-off of the phototransduction cascade allows attributing different phases of the recovery to specific products of rhodopsin photolysis. The fast phase is determined by quenching of metarhodopsin II and activated transducin. The slow phase is controlled by decay of partially inactivated (phosphorylated and arrestin-bound) metarhodopsins, and by regeneration of rhodopsin. The transition between the two regimes of adaptation is rather abrupt, occurring within a few-fold range of stimulus intensity. This marks the border between reversal of light adaptation and dark adaptation, as it is commonly defined.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- M L Firsov
- Institute for Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 44 Thorez Prospect, 194223 St. Petersburg, Russia
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
16
|
Tsina E, Chen C, Koutalos Y, Ala-Laurila P, Tsacopoulos M, Wiggert B, Crouch RK, Cornwall MC. Physiological and microfluorometric studies of reduction and clearance of retinal in bleached rod photoreceptors. J Gen Physiol 2004; 124:429-43. [PMID: 15452202 PMCID: PMC2233903 DOI: 10.1085/jgp.200409078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2004] [Accepted: 09/07/2004] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The visual cycle comprises a sequence of reactions that regenerate the visual pigment in photoreceptors during dark adaptation, starting with the reduction of all-trans retinal to all-trans retinol and its clearance from photoreceptors. We have followed the reduction of retinal and clearance of retinol within bleached outer segments of red rods isolated from salamander retina by measuring its intrinsic fluorescence. Following exposure to a bright light (bleach), increasing fluorescence intensity was observed to propagate along the outer segments in a direction from the proximal region adjacent to the inner segment toward the distal tip. Peak retinol fluorescence was achieved after approximately 30 min, after which it declined very slowly. Clearance of retinol fluorescence is considerably accelerated by the presence of the exogenous lipophilic substances IRBP (interphotoreceptor retinoid binding protein) and serum albumin. We have used simultaneous fluorometric and electrophysiological measurements to compare the rate of reduction of all-trans retinal to all-trans retinol to the rate of recovery of flash response amplitude in these cells in the presence and absence of IRBP. We find that flash response recovery in rods is modestly accelerated in the presence of extracellular IRBP. These results suggest such substances may participate in the clearance of retinoids from rod photoreceptors, and that this clearance, at least in rods, may facilitate dark adaptation by accelerating the clearance of photoproducts of bleaching.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Efthymia Tsina
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
17
|
Abstract
Following exposure of our eye to very intense illumination, we experience a greatly elevated visual threshold, that takes tens of minutes to return completely to normal. The slowness of this phenomenon of "dark adaptation" has been studied for many decades, yet is still not fully understood. Here we review the biochemical and physical processes involved in eliminating the products of light absorption from the photoreceptor outer segment, in recycling the released retinoid to its original isomeric form as 11-cis retinal, and in regenerating the visual pigment rhodopsin. Then we analyse the time-course of three aspects of human dark adaptation: the recovery of psychophysical threshold, the recovery of rod photoreceptor circulating current, and the regeneration of rhodopsin. We begin with normal human subjects, and then analyse the recovery in several retinal disorders, including Oguchi disease, vitamin A deficiency, fundus albipunctatus, Bothnia dystrophy and Stargardt disease. We review a large body of evidence showing that the time-course of human dark adaptation and pigment regeneration is determined by the local concentration of 11-cis retinal, and that after a large bleach the recovery is limited by the rate at which 11-cis retinal is delivered to opsin in the bleached rod outer segments. We present a mathematical model that successfully describes a wide range of results in human and other mammals. The theoretical analysis provides a simple means of estimating the relative concentration of free 11-cis retinal in the retina/RPE, in disorders exhibiting slowed dark adaptation, from analysis of psychophysical measurements of threshold recovery or from analysis of pigment regeneration kinetics.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- T D Lamb
- Division of Neuroscience, John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia.
| | | |
Collapse
|
18
|
Affiliation(s)
- G L Fain
- Departments of Physiological Science and Ophthalmology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1527, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
McBee JK, Palczewski K, Baehr W, Pepperberg DR. Confronting complexity: the interlink of phototransduction and retinoid metabolism in the vertebrate retina. Prog Retin Eye Res 2001; 20:469-529. [PMID: 11390257 DOI: 10.1016/s1350-9462(01)00002-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 259] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Absorption of light by rhodopsin or cone pigments in photoreceptors triggers photoisomerization of their universal chromophore, 11-cis-retinal, to all-trans-retinal. This photoreaction is the initial step in phototransduction that ultimately leads to the sensation of vision. Currently, a great deal of effort is directed toward elucidating mechanisms that return photoreceptors to the dark-adapted state, and processes that restore rhodopsin and counterbalance the bleaching of rhodopsin. Most notably, enzymatic isomerization of all-trans-retinal to 11-cis-retinal, called the visual cycle (or more properly the retinoid cycle), is required for regeneration of these visual pigments. Regeneration begins in rods and cones when all-trans-retinal is reduced to all-trans-retinol. The process continues in adjacent retinal pigment epithelial cells (RPE), where a complex set of reactions converts all-trans-retinol to 11-cis-retinal. Although remarkable progress has been made over the past decade in understanding the phototransduction cascade, our understanding of the retinoid cycle remains rudimentary. The aim of this review is to summarize recent developments in our current understanding of the retinoid cycle at the molecular level, and to examine the relevance of these reactions to phototransduction.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- J K McBee
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
20
|
Abstract
The basis of the duplex theory of vision is examined in view of the dazzling array of data on visual pigment sequences and the pigments they form, on the microspectrophotometry measurements of single photoreceptor cells, on the kinds of photoreceptor cascade enzymes, and on the electrophysiological properties of photoreceptors. The implications of the existence of five distinct visual pigment families are explored, especially with regard to what pigments are in what types of photoreceptors, if there are different phototransduction enzymes associated with different types of photoreceptors, and if there are electrophysiological differences between different types of cones.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- T Ebrey
- University of Washington, Seattle 98195, USA
| | | |
Collapse
|
21
|
Abstract
When light is absorbed within the outer segment of a vertebrate photoreceptor, the conformation of the photopigment rhodopsin is altered to produce an activated photoproduct called metarhodopsin II or Rh(*). Rh(*) initiates a transduction cascade similar to that for metabotropic synaptic receptors and many hormones; the Rh(*) activates a heterotrimeric G protein, which in turn stimulates an effector enzyme, a cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase. The phosphodiesterase then hydrolyzes cGMP, and the decrease in the concentration of free cGMP reduces the probability of opening of channels in the outer segment plasma membrane, producing the electrical response of the cell. Photoreceptor transduction can be modulated by changes in the mean light level. This process, called light adaptation (or background adaptation), maintains the working range of the transduction cascade within a physiologically useful region of light intensities. There is increasing evidence that the second messenger responsible for the modulation of the transduction cascade during background adaptation is primarily, if not exclusively, Ca(2+), whose intracellular free concentration is decreased by illumination. The change in free Ca(2+) is believed to have a variety of effects on the transduction mechanism, including modulation of the rate of the guanylyl cyclase and rhodopsin kinase, alteration of the gain of the transduction cascade, and regulation of the affinity of the outer segment channels for cGMP. The sensitivity of the photoreceptor is also reduced by previous exposure to light bright enough to bleach a substantial fraction of the photopigment in the outer segment. This form of desensitization, called bleaching adaptation (the recovery from which is known as dark adaptation), seems largely to be due to an activation of the transduction cascade by some form of bleached pigment. The bleached pigment appears to activate the G protein transducin directly, although with a gain less than Rh(*). The resulting decrease in intracellular Ca(2+) then modulates the transduction cascade, by a mechanism very similar to the one responsible for altering sensitivity during background adaptation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- G L Fain
- Department of Physiological Science, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095-1527, USA.
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
22
|
Han M, Sakmar TP. Assays for activation of recombinant expressed opsins by all-trans-retinals. Methods Enzymol 2000; 315:251-67. [PMID: 10736707 DOI: 10.1016/s0076-6879(00)15848-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- M Han
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
| | | |
Collapse
|
23
|
Chapter 3 Late photoproducts and signaling states of bovine rhodopsin. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2000. [DOI: 10.1016/s1383-8121(00)80006-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register]
|
24
|
Leibrock CS, Reuter T, Lamb TD. Molecular basis of dark adaptation in rod photoreceptors. Eye (Lond) 1998; 12 ( Pt 3b):511-20. [PMID: 9775211 DOI: 10.1038/eye.1998.139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Following exposure of the eye to an intense light that 'bleaches' a significant fraction of the rhodopsin, one's visual threshold is initially greatly elevated, and takes tens of minutes to recover to normal. The elevation of visual threshold arises from events occurring within the rod photoreceptors, and the underlying molecular basis of these events and of the rod's recovery is now becoming clearer. Results obtained by exposing isolated toad rods to hydroxylamine solution indicate that, following small bleaches, the primary intermediate causing elevation of visual threshold is metarhodopsin II, in its phosphorylated and arrestin-bound form. This product activates transduction with an efficacy about 100 times greater than that of opsin.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- C S Leibrock
- Department of Physiology, University of Cambridge, UK.
| | | | | |
Collapse
|