Signal Transduction in Photoreceptor Cells

This book deals with the mechanism of signal transduction in vertebrate and invertebrate photoreceptors. It contains contributions on the structure and function of rhodopsin or other G-coupled receptors, on the regulation of second messengers by enzyme cascade, the role of Ca2+ in light adaptation, control of ionic channels in photoreceptor cells.

Contenu

Hermann Kühn - In Memoriam.- Plenary Lecture.- The Eyes of Halobacteria.- I Rhodopsin - Structure and Function.- Mutagenesis Studies of Rhodopsin Phototransduction.- Structural Stability of Rhodopsin and Opsin Studied by Differential Scanning Calorimetry.- Molecular Analysis of Photoreceptor Protein Function.- Octopus Rhodopsin.- II Transducin and Phosphodiesterase.- The Activation of Transducin: Studies on its Mechanism and Modulation.- The Transitory Complexes Between Photoexcited Rhodopsin and Transducin. Biochemical and Spectroscopic Studies.- The Rate of GTP Hydrolysis by Transducin and the Termination of the cGMP Cascade in Retinal Rods.- The Molecular Biology of the Rod Photoreceptor cGMP Phosphodiesterase ?- and ?-Subunits.- III Deactivation Mechanisms.- The Phosphorylation of Rhodopsin.- Mechanisms of ?-Adrenergic Receptor Desensitization.- IV The cGMP-gated Channel.- Gating Kinetics of the cGMP-Activated Conductance of Retinal Cones.- Molecular Properties of the cGMP-gated Cation Channel of Rod Photoreceptor Cells as Probed with Monoclonal Antibodies.- Cyclic Nucleotide-gated Channels - A Family of Proteins Involved in Vertebrate Photoreception and Olfaction.- V Ca2+ Metabolism and Light Adaptation.- Interactions Between Calcium and cGMP in Dialyzed Detached Retinal Rod Outer Segments.- The Role of Cytoplasmic Calcium Concentration in Photoreceptor Light Adaptation.- Photoreceptor Guanylate Cyclase and Its Regulation by Calcium.- VI Transduction in Invertebrates.- Cyclic-GMP Phosphodiesterase in Photoreceptor Cells in Limulus Ventral Eye.- The Molecular Mechanism of Retinal Degeneration in the Retinal Degeneration B (rdgB) Mutant of Drosophila.- Glycosylation of Dipteran Opsins During Membrane Biogenesis.- Molecular Genetics of Visual Transduction in Drosophila.- Index of Contributors.