Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Bhandawat V
PROVIDER: S-EPMC2957801 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Jun
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Bhandawat Vikas V Reisert Johannes J Yau King-Wai KW
Science (New York, N.Y.) 20050601 5730
Signaling by heterotrimeric GTP-binding proteins (G proteins) drives numerous cellular processes. The number of G protein molecules activated by a single membrane receptor is a determinant of signal amplification, although in most cases this parameter remains unknown. In retinal rod photoreceptors, a long-lived photoisomerized rhodopsin molecule activates many G protein molecules (transducins), yielding substantial amplification and a large elementary (single-photon) response, before rhodopsin a ...[more]