The retina is the innermost, light-sensitive layer of tissue of the eye of most vertebrates and some molluscs. The optics of the eye create a focused two-dimensional image of the visual world on the retina, which then processes that image within the retina and sends nerve impulses along the optic nerve to the visual cortex to create visual perception. The retina serves a function which is in many ways analogous to that of the film or image sensor in a camera.
Rhodopsin, also known as visual purple, is a protein encoded by the RHO gene and a G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR). It is the opsin of the rod cells in the retina and a light-sensitive receptor protein that triggers visual phototransduction in rods. Rhodopsin mediates dim light vision and thus is extremely sensitive to light. When rhodopsin is exposed to light, it immediately photobleaches. In humans, it is regenerated fully in about 30 minutes, after which the rods are more sensitive. Defects in the rhodopsin gene cause eye diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa and congenital stationary night blindness.
A photoreceptor cell is a specialized type of neuroepithelial cell found in the retina that is capable of visual phototransduction. The great biological importance of photoreceptors is that they convert light into signals that can stimulate biological processes. To be more specific, photoreceptor proteins in the cell absorb photons, triggering a change in the cell's membrane potential.
Transducin (Gt) is a protein naturally expressed in vertebrate retina rods and cones and it is very important in vertebrate phototransduction. It is a type of heterotrimeric G-protein with different α subunits in rod and cone photoreceptors.
In visual physiology, adaptation is the ability of the retina of the eye to adjust to various levels of light. Natural night vision, or scotopic vision, is the ability to see under low-light conditions. In humans, rod cells are exclusively responsible for night vision as cone cells are only able to function at higher illumination levels. Night vision is of lower quality than day vision because it is limited in resolution and colors cannot be discerned; only shades of gray are seen. In order for humans to transition from day to night vision they must undergo a dark adaptation period of up to two hours in which each eye adjusts from a high to a low luminescence "setting", increasing sensitivity hugely, by many orders of magnitude. This adaptation period is different between rod and cone cells and results from the regeneration of photopigments to increase retinal sensitivity. Light adaptation, in contrast, works very quickly, within seconds.
As a part of the retina, bipolar cells exist between photoreceptors and ganglion cells. They act, directly or indirectly, to transmit signals from the photoreceptors to the ganglion cells.
Melanopsin is a type of photopigment belonging to a larger family of light-sensitive retinal proteins called opsins and encoded by the gene Opn4. In the mammalian retina, there are two additional categories of opsins, both involved in the formation of visual images: rhodopsin and photopsin in the rod and cone photoreceptor cells, respectively.
Photopigments are unstable pigments that undergo a chemical change when they absorb light. The term is generally applied to the non-protein chromophore moiety of photosensitive chromoproteins, such as the pigments involved in photosynthesis and photoreception. In medical terminology, "photopigment" commonly refers to the photoreceptor proteins of the retina.
Cyclic nucleotide–gated ion channels or CNG channels are ion channels that function in response to the binding of cyclic nucleotides. CNG channels are nonselective cation channels that are found in the membranes of various tissue and cell types, and are significant in sensory transduction as well as cellular development. Their function can be the result of a combination of the binding of cyclic nucleotides and either a depolarization or a hyperpolarization event. Initially discovered in the cells that make up the retina of the eye, CNG channels have been found in many different cell types across both the animal and the plant kingdoms. CNG channels have a very complex structure with various subunits and domains that play a critical role in their function. CNG channels are significant in the function of various sensory pathways including vision and olfaction, as well as in other key cellular functions such as hormone release and chemotaxis. CNG channels have also been found to exist in prokaryotes, including many spirochaeta, though their precise role in bacterial physiology remains unknown.
Visual phototransduction is the sensory transduction process of the visual system by which light is detected to yield nerve impulses in the rod cells and cone cells in the retina of the eye in humans and other vertebrates. It relies on the visual cycle, a sequence of biochemical reactions in which a molecule of retinal bound to opsin undergoes photoisomerization, initiates a cascade that signals detection of the photon, and is indirectly restored to its photosensitive isomer for reuse. Phototransduction in some invertebrates such as fruit flies relies on similar processes.
Horizontal cells are the laterally interconnecting neurons having cell bodies in the inner nuclear layer of the retina of vertebrate eyes. They help integrate and regulate the input from multiple photoreceptor cells. Among their functions, horizontal cells are believed to be responsible for increasing contrast via lateral inhibition and adapting both to bright and dim light conditions. Horizontal cells provide inhibitory feedback to rod and cone photoreceptors. They are thought to be important for the antagonistic center-surround property of the receptive fields of many types of retinal ganglion cells.
Intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs), also called photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (pRGC), or melanopsin-containing retinal ganglion cells (mRGCs), are a type of neuron in the retina of the mammalian eye. The presence of ipRGCs was first suspected in 1927 when rodless, coneless mice still responded to a light stimulus through pupil constriction, This implied that rods and cones are not the only light-sensitive neurons in the retina. Yet research on these cells did not advance until the 1980s. Recent research has shown that these retinal ganglion cells, unlike other retinal ganglion cells, are intrinsically photosensitive due to the presence of melanopsin, a light-sensitive protein. Therefore, they constitute a third class of photoreceptors, in addition to rod and cone cells.
Congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB) is a rare non-progressive retinal disorder. People with CSNB often have difficulty adapting to low light situations due to impaired photoreceptor transmission. These patients may also have reduced visual acuity, myopia, nystagmus, and strabismus. CSNB has two forms -- complete, also known as type-1 (CSNB1), and incomplete, also known as type-2 (CSNB2), which are distinguished by the involvement of different retinal pathways. In CSNB1, downstream neurons called bipolar cells are unable to detect neurotransmission from photoreceptor cells. CSNB1 can be caused by mutations in various genes involved in neurotransmitter detection, including NYX. In CSNB2, the photoreceptors themselves have impaired neurotransmission function; this is caused primarily by mutations in the gene CACNA1F, which encodes a voltage-gated calcium channel important for neurotransmitter release. CSNB has been identified in horses and dogs as the result of mutations in TRPM1, GRM6, and LRIT3 .
Rhodopsin kinase is a serine/threonine-specific protein kinase involved in phototransduction. This enzyme catalyses the following chemical reaction:
Retinylidene proteins, or rhodopsins in a broad sense, are proteins that use retinal as a chromophore for light reception. They are the molecular basis for a variety of light-sensing systems from phototaxis in flagellates to eyesight in animals. Retinylidene proteins include all forms of opsin and rhodopsin. While rhodopsin in the narrow sense refers to a dim-light visual pigment found in vertebrates, usually on rod cells, rhodopsin in the broad sense refers to any molecule consisting of an opsin and a retinal chromophore in the ground state. When activated by light, the chromophore is isomerized, at which point the molecule as a whole is no longer rhodopsin, but a related molecule such as metarhodopsin. However, it remains a retinylidene protein. The chromophore then separates from the opsin, at which point the bare opsin is a retinylidene protein. Thus, the molecule remains a retinylidene protein throughout the phototransduction cycle.
The visual cycle is a process in the retina that replenishes the molecule retinal for its use in vision. Retinal is the chromophore of most visual opsins, meaning it captures the photons to begin the phototransduction cascade. When the photon is absorbed, the 11-cis retinal photoisomerizes into all-trans retinal as it is ejected from the opsin protein. Each molecule of retinal must travel from the photoreceptor cell to the RPE and back in order to be refreshed and combined with another opsin. This closed enzymatic pathway of 11-cis retinal is sometimes called Wald's visual cycle after George Wald (1906–1997), who received the Nobel Prize in 1967 for his work towards its discovery.
Rod cGMP-specific 3',5'-cyclic phosphodiesterase subunit beta is the beta subunit of the protein complex PDE6 that is encoded by the PDE6B gene. PDE6 is crucial in transmission and amplification of visual signal. The existence of this beta subunit is essential for normal PDE6 functioning. Mutations in this subunit are responsible for retinal degeneration such as retinitis pigmentosa or congenital stationary night blindness.
S-arrestin is a protein that in humans is encoded by the SAG gene.
Mammals normally have a pair of eyes. Although mammalian vision is not so excellent as bird vision, it is at least dichromatic for most of mammalian species, with certain families possessing a trichromatic color perception.
Retinal degeneration is a retinopathy which consists in the deterioration of the retina caused by the progressive death of its cells. There are several reasons for retinal degeneration, including artery or vein occlusion, diabetic retinopathy, R.L.F./R.O.P., or disease. These may present in many different ways such as impaired vision, night blindness, retinal detachment, light sensitivity, tunnel vision, and loss of peripheral vision to total loss of vision. Of the retinal degenerative diseases retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a very important example.
