Accumulation of immunoreactive opsin on plasma membranes in degenerating rod cells of rd/rd mutant mice.

An Immunohistochemical Study of an Autosomal Dominant Feline Rod/Cone Dysplasia (Rdy Cats)

“…In the Rdy cats, opsin was also present in the rod inner segments and around the cell perikarya. Similar findings have previously been observed in rodent models of retinal degeneration including the rd mice, rds mice, RCS rats and mice with human P23H rhodopsin transgene (Ishiguro, 1987 ;Roof, Adamian and Hayes, 1994) as well as in human retinitis pigmentosa (Li, Kljavin and Milam, 1995).…”

Identification and Characterization of CDS2, a Mammalian Homolog of theDrosophilaCDP-diacylglycerol Synthase Gene

“…The high level of expression confined in the inner segment of the photoreceptor layer is suggestive of the involvement of Cds1 in phototransduction in mammals. In fact, other molecules known to play an important role in phototransduction, such as rhodopsin, show the same spatial and temporal expression pattern of Cds1 at the RNA level (Bowes et al, 1988;Ishiguro et al, 1987). Northern analysis showed that outside the retina CDS1 is expressed at low levels in brain, lung, placenta, small intestine, ovary, and testis (Lykidis et al, 1997).…”

A longitudinal study on the expression of the opsin gene in the degenerating retina of C3H/He mice.

“…6) while no grains are detectable in any layers above the background level in the mutant retina (Fig. 8) by several authors (NoELL, 1958;LASANSKY and DE ROBERTIS, 1960;CARAVAGGIO and BONTING, 1963;ISHIGURO et al, 1987). The present immunohistochemical findings are basically in accord with their results: After attaining a peak in the development of the outer nuclear and rod layers at P12, the photoreceptor cells of the C3H retina degenerate progressively and only a few rows of outer nuclei immunoreactive for opsin remain without apparent recognition of the rod layer at P16.…”

“…A previous immunohistochemical study has demonstrated that opsinimmunoreactivity is persistently expressed in the plasma membranes of the remaining photoreceptor cells during retinal degeneration (ISHIGURO et al, 1987). Considering that, in the normal mouse photoreceptor cells, opsin is incorporated into the disk membranes of the rod outer segments (NIR et al, 1984) which undergo renewal in 10 days (YOUNG, 1967), it is pertinent to determine whether the opsin synthesis in the mutant photoreceptor cells continues during the entire degeneration period or ceases prior to or following the onset of degeneration.…”