The Journal of General Physiology
CrossRef
  Home | Help | Feedback | Subscriptions | Archive | Search | Table of Contents

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF, 293K)
Right arrow PPT slides of all figures
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new content in the JGP
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Gomez, M. d. P.
Right arrow Articles by Nasi, E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Gomez, M. d. P.
Right arrow Articles by Nasi, E.
Right arrowPubmed/NCBI databases
*Compound via MeSH
*Substance via MeSH
Hazardous Substances DB
*CALCIUM COMPOUNDS
*CALCIUM, ELEMENTAL
Social Bookmarking
 Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Facebook   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?
© The Rockefeller University Press, 0022-1295/1997//371/ $5.00
Journal of General Physiology, Volume 109, Number 3, 1997


Article

Light Adaptation in Pecten Hyperpolarizing Photoreceptors

Insensitivity to Calcium Manipulations



Maria del Pilar Gomez*,{ddagger} and Enrico Nasi*,{ddagger}

From the * Department of Physiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02118; and {ddagger} Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543

The ability of scallop hyperpolarizing photoreceptors to respond without attenuation to repetitive flashes, together with their low light sensitivity, lack of resolvable quantum bumps and fast photoresponse kinetics, had prompted the suggestion that these cells may be constitutively in a state akin to light adaptation. We here demonstrate that their photocurrent displays all manifestations of sensory adaptation: (a) The response amplitude to a test flash is decreased in a graded way by background or conditioning lights. This attenuation of the response develops with a time constant of 200–800 ms, inversely related to background intensity. (b) Adapting stimuli shift the stimulus-response curve and reduce the size of the saturating photocurrent. (c) The fall kinetics of the photoresponse are accelerated by light adaptation, and the roll-off of the modulation transfer function is displaced to higher frequencies. This light-induced desensitization exhibits a rapid recovery, on the order of a few seconds. Based on the notion that Ca mediates light adaptation in other cells, we examined the consequences of manipulating this ion. Removal of external Ca reversibly increased the photocurrent amplitude, without affecting light sensitivity, photoresponse kinetics, or susceptibility to background adaptation; the effect, therefore, concerns ion permeation, rather than the regulation of the visual response. Intracellular dialysis with 10 mM BAPTA did not reduce the peak-to-plateau decay of the photocurrent elicited by prolonged light steps, not the background-induced compression of the response amplitude range and the acceleration of its kinetics. Conversely, high levels of buffered free [Ca]i (10 µM) only marginally shifted the sensitivity curve ({Delta}{sigma} = 0.3 log) and spared all manifestations of light adaptation. These results indicate that hyperpolarizing invertebrate photoreceptors adapt to light, but the underlying mechanisms must utilize pathways that are largely independent of changes in cytosolic Ca. The results are discussed in terms of aspects of commonalty to other ciliary sensory receptor cells.

Key Words: light adaptation • photoreceptors • calcium • light-dependent channels


Address correspondence to Dr. Enrico Nasi, Department of Physiology, Boston University School of Medicine, 80 E. Concord Street, Boston, MA 02118. Fax: 617-638-4273; E-mail: enasi{at}acs.bu.edu


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Facebook Facebook   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
J. Neurosci.Home page
M. del Pilar Gomez and E. Nasi
Calcium-Independent, cGMP-Mediated Light Adaptation in Invertebrate Ciliary Photoreceptors
J. Neurosci., February 23, 2005; 25(8): 2042 - 2049.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Physiol. Rev.Home page
U. B. Kaupp and R. Seifert
Cyclic Nucleotide-Gated Ion Channels
Physiol Rev, July 1, 2002; 82(3): 769 - 824.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Neurosci.Home page
M. d. P. Gomez and E. Nasi
Light Transduction in Invertebrate Hyperpolarizing Photoreceptors: Possible Involvement of a Go-Regulated Guanylate Cyclase
J. Neurosci., July 15, 2000; 20(14): 5254 - 5263.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Geological Society, London, Special PublicationsHome page
B. Morton
The function of pallial eyes within the Pectinidae, with a description of those present in Patinopecten yessoensis
Geological Society, London, Special Publications, January 1, 2000; 177(1): 247 - 255.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
JGPHome page
E. Nasi and M. del Pilar Gomez
Divalent Cation Interactions with Light-Dependent K Channels: Kinetics of Voltage-Dependent Block and Requirement for an Open Pore
J. Gen. Physiol., November 1, 1999; 114(5): 653 - 672.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]



  Home | Help | Feedback | Subscriptions | Archive | Search | Table of Contents