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Bleaching of mouse rods: microspectrophotometry and suction‐electrode recording
Author(s) -
Nymark S.,
Frederiksen R.,
Woodruff M. L.,
Cornwall M. C.,
Fain G. L.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the journal of physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.802
H-Index - 240
eISSN - 1469-7793
pISSN - 0022-3751
DOI - 10.1113/jphysiol.2012.228627
Subject(s) - rhodopsin , biophysics , pigment , rod , visual phototransduction , chemistry , retinal , biology , biochemistry , medicine , alternative medicine , organic chemistry , pathology
Key points • When photoreceptors in vertebrate retina are exposed to bright light, a significant proportion of the photopigment in the rods can be bleached. • Bleaching produces a desensitization of the visual system that recovers slowly as pigment is slowly regenerated, by a process known as dark adaptation. • Experiments on isolated amphibian rods have revealed some of the features of bleach‐induced desensitization, but such experiments have not so far been possible on mammals. • We now describe an improved method that makes possible the first direct measurements of pigment concentration and rod photoreceptor responses over a wide range of bleaching exposures from isolated cells or pieces of intact mammalian retina. • Our experiments reveal important features of mammalian bleaching adaptation and will now make possible future studies from mouse animal lines containing genetically altered photoreceptor proteins.