Functional and Genomic Study of the Novel (Orphan) Opsin Profile of the Zebrafish

斑马鱼新型（孤儿）视蛋白谱的功能和基因组研究

• 批准号: BB/E021670/1
• 负责人: Mark Hankins
• 金额: $ 122.51万
• 依托单位: University of Oxford
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2008 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FE021670%2F1
• 关键词: Functional; Genomic; Study; Novel; Orphan

The Retina is a thin layer of interconnected nerve cells that covers the inside surface of the back of the eyeball. The whole process of Vision itself begins with a small group of proteins (known as opsins) which perform the unique task of absorbing light and translating it into an electrical/biological signal. In the retina, it was traditionally assumed that these opsins were confined to the rod and cone cells, known collectively as photoreceptors. These photoreceptor cells are the functional equivalent of the pixels in the CCD array of a digital camera. It has more recently been discovered that there is actually a rich diversity of additional candidate opsins produced in alternative cells in the retina, however their function remains largely unexplored. Furthermore, these same light sensitive proteins are also found in the brain in places like the pineal organ. Collectively these observations indicate that the whole process of light detection is far more complex than originally thought. Here in the current program we propose a systematic study of these potentially light sensing proteins by looking at the whole diverse opsin photopigment family in the zebrafish, a common model organism. Initially, we will insert the DNA that codes for these proteins into host cells grown in culture conditions. In this way we can measure and compare their functional properties as well as studying how they might interact with one another. This will allow us to define which of these possible photopigments can confer photosensitivity in cells which normally do not respond to light. Finally, it is very hard to measure the real function of these light sensitive proteins in the retina or brain because they are only found in relatively few cells and as a result they are simply very hard to find. We will therefore use new techniques to genetically modify zebrafish, so as to generate animals where the cells that normally produce these photopigments are modified to glow with a fluorescent marker. These approaches will help us explore and understand the whole range of new light detection mechanisms present in the eye and brain.

视网膜是一层薄薄的相互连接的神经细胞，覆盖在眼球后部的内表面。视觉本身的整个过程始于一小群蛋白质（称为视蛋白），它们执行吸收光并将其转化为电信号/生物信号的独特任务。在视网膜中，传统上认为这些视蛋白局限于视杆细胞和视锥细胞，统称为光感受器。这些感光细胞的功能相当于数码相机CCD阵列中的像素。最近发现，实际上在视网膜中的替代细胞中产生了丰富多样的额外候选视蛋白，然而它们的功能在很大程度上仍未被探索。此外，这些相同的光敏蛋白质也存在于大脑中的松果体器官等地方。总的来说，这些观察结果表明，光探测的整个过程比最初想象的要复杂得多。在目前的项目中，我们提出了一个系统的研究这些潜在的光敏感蛋白，通过在斑马鱼，一个共同的模式生物的整个不同的视蛋白色素家族。最初，我们将把编码这些蛋白质的DNA插入在培养条件下生长的宿主细胞中。通过这种方式，我们可以测量和比较它们的功能特性，并研究它们如何相互作用。这将使我们能够确定这些可能的色素中的哪一种可以赋予通常对光没有反应的细胞光敏性。最后，很难测量这些光敏蛋白在视网膜或大脑中的真实的功能，因为它们只在相对较少的细胞中发现，因此它们很难被发现。因此，我们将使用新技术对斑马鱼进行基因改造，以产生这样的动物，即通常产生这些色素的细胞被改造成带有荧光标记的发光细胞。这些方法将帮助我们探索和理解眼睛和大脑中存在的整个新的光检测机制。

项目成果

An extended family of novel vertebrate photopigments is widely expressed and displays a diversity of function.

• DOI: 10.1101/gr.189886.115
• 发表时间: 2015-11
• 期刊: Genome research
• 影响因子: 7
• 作者: Davies WI;Tamai TK;Zheng L;Fu JK;Rihel J;Foster RG;Whitmore D;Hankins MW
• 通讯作者: Hankins MW

Evolution of visual and non-visual pigments

视觉和非视觉色素的演变

• 发表时间: 2014
• 作者: E. Kawano-Yamashita;M. Koyanagi;S. Wada and A. Terakita
• 通讯作者: S. Wada and A. Terakita

Functional characterization of the teleost multiple tissue (tmt) opsin family and their role in light detection

硬骨鱼多组织（tmt）视蛋白家族的功能表征及其在光检测中的作用

• 发表时间: 2013
• 作者: Fu Josephine K. Y.