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Neuroscience Graduate Program at UCSF
Transduction in Photoreceptors and Functional Development of the Retina
Photoreceptor cells in the vertebrate retina initiate the visual process. They inform of the presence of light and process information to sustain normal visual-driven behavior over light intensities that change 10 billion-fold between dusk and a bright noon. The two types of photoreceptor cells in the vertebrate retina, rods and cones, signal the absorption of light with profoundly different quantitative characteristics. These signaling differences complement each other and together allow for the full range of vision-driven behavior. In any given species, the two receptor types operate over distinctive color regions (because of their specific visual pigment molecules) and their photoresponse differ in speed, light-sensitivity and, most notably, light- and dark-adaptation properties.
We are particularly interested in understanding the molecular events that sustain function in cone photoreceptors. Using electrophysiological, imaging and molecular biology tools, we presently study the role of cGMP-gated ion channels, Na+/Ca2+,K+ active ion transporters and visual pigment kinase in the phototransduction and adaptation functions of cones. We are applying recent technical developments in zebrafish reverse genetics to identify, create and functionally characterize transgenic cone photoreceptors.
Link to Publications via PubMed
Paillart, C, K Zhang, T I Rebrik, W Baehr, and J I Korenbrot (2006). Cloning and molecular characterization of cGMP-gated ion channels from rod and cone photoreceptors of striped bass ( M. saxatilis ) retina. Vis Neurosci. 23: 99-113
Holcman, D and J I Korenbrot (2005) . The limit of photoreceptor sensitivity: molecular mechanisms of dark noise in retinal cones. J Gen Physiol. 125: 641-60.
Page-McCaw, P S, S C Chung, A Muto, T Roeser, W Staub, K C Finger-Baier, J I Korenbrot, and H Baier (2004) . Retinal network adaptation to bright light requires tyrosinase Nat Neurosci. 7: 1329-1336
Faillace, M P, R O Bernabeu, and J I Korenbrot (2004) . Cellular Processing of Cone Photoreceptor Cyclic GMP-gated Ion Channels: A Role For The S4 Structural Motif J Biol Chem. 279: 22643-53
Juan Korenbrot, Ph.D.
Phone
415-476-1652
Physical Address
513 Parnassus
HSW-858
Mailing Address
UCSF, 513 Parnassus Box 0444
San Francisco, CA 94143-0444
For Internal Campus Mail
Box 0444
Other Websites