Abstract
Phototransduction is the first step in seeing, whereby photons absorbed by the retinal rods and cones trigger an electrical signal, which is then transmitted synaptically to higher-order retinal neurons for processing. The mechanism of phototransduction is now extremely well understood, especially that of rods, and is in fact the exemplary G-protein-mediated signaling pathway understood down to quantitative details. The molecular identifications of the various proteins involved in phototransduction and their mutations have also helped understand many hereditary diseases affecting vision.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Vision I |
| Publisher | Elsevier Inc. |
| Pages | 269-301 |
| Number of pages | 33 |
| Volume | 1 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780123708809 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2008 |
Keywords
- Bleaching adaptation
- CGMP
- Ciliary photoreceptor
- Cone
- Cone pigment
- Dark adaptation
- Evolution
- Light adaptation
- Light response
- Parietal eye
- Photoreceptor
- Phototransduction
- Retina
- Rhodopsin
- Rod
- Visual pigment