Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Park PS
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4120657 | biostudies-literature | 2014
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Advances in pharmacology (San Diego, Calif.) 20140101
Rhodopsin is the light receptor in rod photoreceptor cells of the retina that initiates scotopic vision. In the dark, rhodopsin is bound to the chromophore 11-cis retinal, which locks the receptor in an inactive state. The maintenance of an inactive rhodopsin in the dark is critical for rod photoreceptor cells to remain highly sensitive. Perturbations by mutation or the absence of 11-cis retinal can cause rhodopsin to become constitutively active, which leads to the desensitization of photorecep ...[more]