scholarly journals Two Temporal Phases of Light Adaptation in Retinal Rods

2002 ◽  
Vol 119 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter D. Calvert ◽  
Victor I. Govardovskii ◽  
Vadim Y. Arshavsky ◽  
Clint L. Makino

Vertebrate rod photoreceptors adjust their sensitivity as they adapt during exposure to steady light. Light adaptation prevents the rod from saturating and significantly extends its dynamic range. We examined the time course of the onset of light adaptation in bullfrog rods and compared it with the projected onset of feedback reactions thought to underlie light adaptation on the molecular level. We found that adaptation developed in two distinct temporal phases: (1) a fast phase that operated within seconds after the onset of illumination, which is consistent with most previous reports of a 1–2-s time constant for the onset of adaptation; and (2) a slow phase that engaged over tens of seconds of continuous illumination. The fast phase desensitized the rods as much as 80-fold, and was observed at every light intensity tested. The slow phase was observed only at light intensities that suppressed more than half of the dark current. It provided an additional sensitivity loss of up to 40-fold before the rod saturated. Thus, rods achieved a total degree of adaptation of ∼3,000-fold. Although the fast adaptation is likely to originate from the well characterized Ca2+-dependent feedback mechanisms regulating the activities of several phototransduction cascade components, the molecular mechanism underlying slow adaptation is unclear. We tested the hypothesis that the slow adaptation phase is mediated by cGMP dissociation from noncatalytic binding sites on the cGMP phosphodiesterase, which has been shown to reduce the lifetime of activated phosphodiesterase in vitro. Although cGMP dissociated from the noncatalytic binding sites in intact rods with kinetics approximating that for the slow adaptation phase, this hypothesis was ruled out because the intensity of light required for cGMP dissociation far exceeded that required to evoke the slow phase. Other possible mechanisms are discussed.

1987 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 1513-1520 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. N. Richardson ◽  
D. Bilan ◽  
M. Hoppensack ◽  
L. Oppenheimer

Transvascular fluid flux was induced in six isolated blood-perfused canine lobes by increasing and decreasing hydrostatic inflow pressure (Pi). Fluid flux was followed against the change in concentration of an impermeable tracer (Blue Dextran) measured directly with a colorimetric device. The time course of fluid flux was biphasic with an initial fast transient followed by a slow phase. Hematocrit changes unrelated to fluid flux occurred due to the Fahraeus effect, and their contribution to the total color signal was subtracted to determine the rate of fast fluid flux (Qf). Qf was related to Pi to derive fast-phase conductance (Kf). Slow-phase Kf was calculated from the constant rate of change of lobe weight. For a mean change in Pi of 7 cmH2O, 40% of the color signal was due to fluid flux. Fast- and slow-phase Kf's were 0.86 +/- 0.15 and 0.27 +/- 0.05 ml X min-1. cmH2O–1 X 100 g dry wt-1. The fast-phase Kf is smaller than that reported for plasma-perfused lobes. Possible explanations discussed are the nature of the perfusate, the mechanical properties of the interstitium, and the slow rate of rise of the driving pressure at the filtration site on the basis of a distributed model of pulmonary vascular compliance.


1981 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 187-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
W T Chen

Retraction of the taut, trailing portion of a moving chick heart fibroblast in vitro is an abrupt dynamic process. Upon retraction, the fibroblast tail always ruptures, leaving a small amount of itself attached to the substratum by focal contacts. Time-lapse cinemicrography shows that retraction produces a sudden, massive movement of both surface and cytoplasmic material toward a cluster of focal contacts near the main body of the cell. The appearance of folds on the upper cell surface at this time and the absence of endocytotic vesicles are consistent with this forward movement. Retraction of the trailing edge, either occurring naturally or produced artificially with a microneedle, consists of an initial fast component followed and overlapped by a slow component. Upon artificial detachment in the presence of iodoacetate, dinitrophenol, and sodium fluoride, and at 4 degrees C, the slow component is strongly inhibited and the fast one only slightly inhibited. Moreover of the bundles of microfilaments oriented parallel to the long axis of the tail seen in TEM. Most of the birefringence is lost during the fast phase and the rest during the slow phase of retraction. Concurrently, the bundles of microfilaments disappear during the fast phase of retraction and are replaced by a microfilament meshwork. All of these results are consistent with the hypothesis that the initial fast component of retraction is a passive elastic recoil, associated with the oriented bundles of microfilaments, and that the slow component of retraction is an active contraction, associated with a meshwork of microfilaments.


1985 ◽  
Vol 227 (2) ◽  
pp. 439-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
P M Bayley ◽  
F M M Butler ◽  
D C Clark ◽  
E J Manser ◽  
S R Martin

The kinetics of assembly were studied for bovine and pig microtubule protein in vitro over a range of conditions of pH, temperature, nucleotide and protein concentration. The kinetics are in general biphasic with two major processes of similar amplitude but separated in rate by one order of magnitude. Rates and amplitudes are complex functions of solution conditions. The rates of the fast phase and the slow phase attain limiting values as a function of increasing protein concentration, and are more stringently limited at pH 6.5 than pH 6.95. Such behaviour indicates that mechanisms other than the condensation polymerization of tubulin dimer become rate-limiting at higher protein concentration. The constancy of the wavelength-dependence of light-scattering and ultrastructural criteria indicate that microtubules of normal morphology are formed in both phases of the assembly process. Electrophoretic analysis of assembling microtubule protein shows that MAP- (microtubule-associated-protein-)rich microtubules are formed during the fast phase. The rate of dissociation of oligomeric species on dilution of microtubule protein closely parallels the fast-phase rate in magnitude and temperature-dependence. We propose that the rate of this process constitutes an upper limit to the rate of the fast phase of assembly. The kinetics of redistribution of MAPs from MAP-rich microtubules may be a factor limiting the slow-phase rate. A working model is derived for the self-assembly of microtubule protein incorporating the dissociation and redistribution mechanisms that impose upper limits to the rates of assembly attainable by bimolecular addition reactions. Key roles are assigned to MAP-containing fragments in both phases of microtubule elongation. Variations in kinetic behaviour with solution conditions are inferred to derive from the nature and properties of fragments formed from oligomeric species after the rapid temperature jump. The model accounts for the limiting rate behaviour and indicates experimental criteria to be applied in evaluating the relative contributions of alternative pathways.


2002 ◽  
Vol 361 (2) ◽  
pp. 355-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis M. BREDESTON ◽  
Alcides F. REGA

Pre-steady-state phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of purified and phospholipid-depleted plasma-membrane Ca2+-ATPase (PMCA) solubilized in the detergent polyoxyethylene 10 lauryl ether were studied at 25°C. The time course of phosphorylation with ATP of the enzyme associated with Ca2+, probably the true phosphorylation reaction, showed a fast phase (kapp near 400s−1) followed by a slow phase (kapp = 23s−1). With asolectin or acidic phosphatidylinositol, the concentration of phosphoenzyme (EP) increased at as high a rate as before, passed through a maximum at 4ms and stabilized at a steady level that was approx. half that without lipids. Calmodulin (CaM) did not change the rate of the fast phase, accelerated the slow phase (kapp = 93s−1) and increased [EP] with small changes in the shape of the time course. Dephosphorylation was slow (kapp = 30s−1) and insensitive to CaM. Asolectin accelerated dephosphorylation, which followed biexponential kinetics with fast (kapp = 220s−1) and slow (kapp = 20s−1) components. CaM stimulated the fast component by nearly 50%. The results show that the behaviour of the PMCA is complex, and suggest that acidic phospholipids and CaM activate PMCA through different mechanisms. Acceleration of dephosphorylation seems relevant during activation of the PMCA by acidic phospholipids.


1969 ◽  
Vol 54 (5) ◽  
pp. 607-635 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Paes de Carvalho ◽  
Brian Francis Hoffman ◽  
Marilene de Paula Carvalho

Transmembrane potentials recorded from the rabbit heart in vitro were displayed as voltage against time (V, t display), and dV/dt against voltage (V, V or phase-plane display). Acetylcholine was applied to the recording site by means of a hydraulic system. Results showed that (a) differences in time course of action potential upstroke can be explained in terms of the relative magnitude of fast and slow phases of depolarization; (b) acetylcholine is capable of depressing the slow phase of depolarization as well as the plateau of the action potential; and (c) action potentials from nodal (SA and AV) cells seem to lack the initial fast phase. These results were construed to support a two-component hypothesis for cardiac electrogenesis. The hypothesis states that cardiac action potentials are composed of two distinct and physiologically separable "components" which result from discrete mechanisms. An initial fast component is a sodium spike similar to that of squid nerve. The slow component, which accounts for both a slow depolarization during phase 0 and the plateau, probably is dependent on the properties of a slow inward current having a positive equilibrium potential, coupled to a decrease in the resting potassium conductance. According to the hypothesis, SA and AV nodal action potentials are due entirely or almost entirely to the slow component and can therefore be expected to exhibit unique electrophysiological and pharmacological properties.


1995 ◽  
Vol 307 (3) ◽  
pp. 859-865 ◽  
Author(s):  
S K Joseph ◽  
S Pierson ◽  
S Samanta

Limited digestion of rat cerebellum microsomal vesicles with trypsin resulted in the proteolysis of the 240 kDa inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP3R) and the formation of a 94 kDa species that remained membrane-bound and retained immunoreactivity to an antibody raised against the C-terminal sequence of this protein. The appearance of the 94 kDa species was associated with a loss of [3H]IP3 binding sites in the membrane and the appearance of [3H]IP3 binding sites in the soluble fraction. The 94 kDa fragment retained reactivity to biotinylated concanavalin A. In vitro phosphorylation of the IP3R in membranes with cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase and [gamma-32P]ATP produced an unlabelled 94 kDa fragment after tryptic digestion. According to current models of the cerebellar IP3R this would place the proteolytic site between the phosphorylation site at serine-1755 and the first transmembrane segment of the IP3R. A second antibody raised to amino acids 401-414 in the N-terminal region of the receptor recognizes a 68 kDa fragment released into the soluble fraction after trypsin treatment. The time course of release of the 68 kDa fragment was correlated with the appearance of soluble binding sites, and the fragment was bound by IP3-Affigel resin. A large proportion of the 68 kDa fragment remained associated with the membrane fraction and could be specifically immunoprecipitated from detergent extracts of digested membranes by anti-C-terminus antibody. Our results provide experimental evidence to further localize the ligand binding domain and suggest that regions of the N-terminus and C-terminus may be non-covalently associated.


1974 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Srebro ◽  
Michael Behbehani

Light adaptation in both the ventral photoreceptor and the lateral eye photoreceptor is a complex process consisting of at least two phases. One phase, which we call the rapid phase of adaptation, occurs whenever there is temporal overlap of the discrete waves that compose a light response. The recovery from the rapid phase of adaptation follows an exponential time-course with a time constant of approximately 75 ms at 21°C. The rapid phase of adaptation occurs at light intensities barely above discrete wave threshold as well as at substantially higher light intensities with the same recovery time-course at all intensities. It occurs in voltage-clamped and unclamped photoreceptors. The kinetics of the rapid phase of adaptation is closely correlated to the photocurrent which appears to initiate it after a short delay. The rapid phase of adaptation is probably identical to what is called the "adapting bump" process. At light intensities greater than about 10 times discrete wave threshold another phase of light adaptation occurs. It develops slowly over a period of ½ s or so, and decays even more slowly over a period of several seconds. It is graded with light intensity and occurs in both voltage-clamped and unclamped photoreceptors. We call this the slow phase of light adaptation.


1987 ◽  
Vol 73 (5) ◽  
pp. 553-555 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Woodman ◽  
D. M. Wintoniuk ◽  
R. G. Taylor ◽  
S. W. Clarke

1. Fifteen asymptomatic habitual smokers each smoked one of their usual cigarettes, not having smoked for 2 h. End-expired carbon monoxide concentration (EECO) was measured with an Ecolyzer 2000 series analyser before smoking (pre-S value), 1 min after finishing smoking (post-S value) and then at intervals up to 1 h. 2. The mean EECO boost (increase) over all subjects declined biphasically after smoking, with an initial fast phase from 1 to 5 min, and then a slow phase from 5 to 60 min. EECO fell by as much in the first 5 min as in the next hour. 3. Post-S EECO was related to pre-S EECO (r = 0.89, P < 0.001), but EECO boost was not related to pre-S (r = 0.00). EECO boost was unaffected by the sampling manoeuvre. 4. EECO measurements in epidemiological and smoking studies should not be made for at least 5 min after a cigarette is finished


1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 108-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary F. Henningfield ◽  
Robert W. Swick

Rats were housed at 4 °C for periods of up to 26 days. As little as 2 h of cold exposure caused an increase in the binding of [3H]GDP to mitochondria from brown adipose tissue. Incubation of mitochondria in vitro with 10 mM Mg2+ caused a marked increase in the subsequent binding of GDP to mitochondria from rats housed at 28 °C and a smaller increase in that from rats exposed to 4 °C for 2 h. Chronic exposure to cold led to an even greater increase in the amount of GDP bound to mitochondria incubated with Mg2+. The time course for the increase in the concentration of uncoupling protein was compared with that for GDP binding to mitochondria with and without Mg2+ treatment. The concentration of uncoupling protein appears to be correlated with the GDP-binding values for mitochondria treated with Mg2+ (r = 0.70) but not with the GDP binding to untreated mitochondria (r = 0.36). Therefore, the binding of GDP to untreated mitochondria may represent thermogenic activity at the time of death, whereas that after treatment with Mg2+ may more closely reflect total thermogenic capacity of the mitochondrion.Key words: concentration of uncoupling protein, cold adaptation, unmasking of GDP binding sites.


1974 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 190-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming D. Wong ◽  
A. F. Burton

The in vitro binding of radioactive steroids to components of mouse placental nuclei and cytoplasm was investigated using Sephadex or charcoal to remove unbound steroid. Specificity was indicated in competition experiments using excess unlabelled competing steroids. Only the active glucocorticoids formed complexes that could be isolated from the nucleus. The binding properties of the cytoplasmic steroid–receptor complex were studied. From the time course of binding the complex was shown to be more stable at 0° than at 37°, and the distribution of receptors in the cytosol appeared to be homogeneous. The complex was labile to heat and to proteolytic digestion but did not appear to be affected by nucleases or sulfhydryl reagents. Kinetic analysis revealed the presence of high affinity specific binding sites with a dissociation constant of 17.5 nM and a receptor site concentration of 0.26 pmol/mg protein. The corticosterone isolated from nuclear complexes and dexamethasone from cytoplasmic complexes were identified by chromatography and by cocrystallization as the unchanged steroid in each case.


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