Abstract
The response of retinal rod photoreceptors to light consists of a membrane hyperpolarization resulting from the decrease of a light-sensitive conductance in the outer segment1. According to the calcium hypothesis, this conductance is blocked by a rise in intracellular free Ca triggered by light2, a notion supported by the findings that an induced rise in internal Ca leads to blockage of the light-sensitive conductance3–9 and that light triggers a net Ca efflux from the outer segment via a Na–Ca exchanger, suggesting a rise in internal free Ca in the light10–13. We have now measured both Ca influx and efflux through the outer segment plasma membrane and find that, contrary to the calcium hypothesis, light seems to decrease rather than increase the free Ca concentration in the rod outer segment. This result implies that Ca does not mediate visual excitation but it probably has a role in light adaptation.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Toyada, J.-I., Nosaki, H. & Tomita, T. Vision Res. 9, 453–463 (1969).
Hagins, W. A. A. Rev. Biophys. Bioengng 1, 131–158 (1972).
Hagins, W. A. & Yoshikami, S. Expl Eye Res. 18, 299–305 (1974).
Brown, J. E., Coles, J. A. & Pinto, L. H. J. Physiol., Lond. 269, 707–722 (1977).
Bastian, B. L. & Fain, G. L. J. Physiol., Lond. 330, 331–347 (1982).
MacLeish, P. R., Schwartz, E. A. & Tachibana, M. J. Physiol., Lond. 348, 645–664 (1984).
Hodgkin, A. L., McNaughton, P. A., Nunn, B. J. & Yau, K.-W. J. Physiol., Lond. 350, 649–680 (1984).
Yau, K.-W. & Nakatani, K. Nature 309, 352–354 (1984).
Hodkin, A. L., McNaughton, P. A. & Nunn, B. J. J. Physiol., Lond. (in the press).
Yoshikami, S., George, J. S. & Hagins, W. A. Nature 286, 395–398 (1980).
Gold, G. H. & Korenbrot, J. I. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 77, 5557–5561 (1980).
Schröder, W. H. & Fain, G. L. Nature 309, 268–270 (1984).
Schröder, W. H. & Fain, G. L. Biophys. J. 45, 341a (1984).
Yau, K.-W. & Nakatani, K. Nature 311, 661–663 (1984).
Lipton, S. A., Rasmussen, H. & Dowling, J. E. J. gen. Physiol. 70, 771–791 (1977).
Capovilla, M., Cervetto, L. & Torre, V. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 79, 6698–6702 (1982).
Baylor, D. A., Lamb, T. D. & Yau, K.-W. J. Physiol., Lond. 288, 613–634 (1979).
Lamb, T. D., McNaughton, P. A. & Yau, K.-W. J. Physiol., Lond. 319, 463–496 (1981).
Gold, G. H. A. Mtg. Soc. Neurosci. 10, 621 (1984).
Miller, W. H. (ed.) Molecular Mechanisms of Photoreceptor Transduction (Academic, New York, 1981).
Cohen, A. I., Hall, I. A. & Ferrendelli, J. A. J. gen. Physio., 71, 595–612 (1978).
Kilbride, P. J. gen. Physiol., 75, 457–465 (1980).
Woodruff, M. L. & Fain, G. L. J. gen. Physiol., 80, 537–555 (1982).
Krishnan, N., Fletcher, R. T., Chader, G. J. & Krishna, G. Biochim. biophys. Acta 523, 506–515 (1978).
Troyer, E. W., Hall, I. A. & Ferrendelli, J. A. J. Neurochem. 31, 825–833 (1978).
Fleischman, D. & Denisevich, M. Biochemistry 18, 5060–5066 (1979).
Lolley, R. N. & Racz, E. Vision Res. 22, 1481–1486 (1982).
Robinson, P. R., Kawamura, S., Abramson, B. & Bownds, M. D. J. gen. Physiol. 76, 631–645 (1980).
Bownds, M. D. Photochem. Photobiol. 32, 487–490 (1980).
Yau, K.-W., McNaughton, P. A. & Hodgkin, A. L. Nature 242, 502–505 (1981).
Fain, G. L., Quandt, F. N., Bastian, B. L. & Gershenfeld, H. M. Nature 272, 467–469 (1978).
Torre, V. J. Physiol. Lond. 333, 315–341 (1982).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yau, KW., Nakatani, K. Light-induced reduction of cytoplasmic free calcium in retinal rod outer segment. Nature 313, 579–582 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1038/313579a0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/313579a0
This article is cited by
-
Analysis of dim-light responses in rod and cone photoreceptors with altered calcium kinetics
Journal of Mathematical Biology (2023)
-
New perspectives in cyclic nucleotide-mediated functions in the CNS: the emerging role of cyclic nucleotide-gated (CNG) channels
Pflügers Archiv - European Journal of Physiology (2014)
-
Function and Dysfunction of CNG Channels: Insights from Channelopathies and Mouse Models
Molecular Neurobiology (2007)
-
The photocurrent response of human cones is fast and monophasic
BMC Neuroscience (2006)
-
Generalised Biological Function
Acta Biotheoretica (2005)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.