RGD Reference Report - Phototransduction motifs and variations. - Rat Genome Database

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Phototransduction motifs and variations.

Authors: Yau, KW  Hardie, RC 
Citation: Yau KW and Hardie RC, Cell. 2009 Oct 16;139(2):246-64.
RGD ID: 6903203
Pubmed: PMID:19837030   (View Abstract at PubMed)
PMCID: PMC2885920   (View Article at PubMed Central)
DOI: DOI:10.1016/j.cell.2009.09.029   (Journal Full-text)

Seeing begins in the photoreceptors, where light is absorbed and signaled to the nervous system. Throughout the animal kingdom, photoreceptors are diverse in design and purpose. Nonetheless, phototransduction-the mechanism by which absorbed photons are converted into an electrical response-is highly conserved and based almost exclusively on a single class of photoproteins, the opsins. In this Review, we survey the G protein-coupled signaling cascades downstream from opsins in photoreceptors across vertebrate and invertebrate species, noting their similarities as well as differences.


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