Molecular mechanisms of invertebrate visual systems

G蛋白偶联信号转导系统在人体的大多数细胞和大多数生物体内都有表达。我们研究的无脊椎动物视觉系统是所有生物学中最快的G蛋白偶联系统。在我的实验室里，我们正在对无脊椎动物北大西洋鱿鱼进行研究，这种乌贼的大眼睛在结构上与人类非常相似。在过去的15年里，我的实验室分离了许多与鱿鱼视觉系统有关的蛋白质，我们已经克隆了编码这些蛋白质的DNA。我们已经发现了许多激活和失活鱿鱼视觉过程的分子相互作用，这让我们更好地理解了这些类型的信号系统是如何工作的。

The G protein coupled signal transduction systems are expressed in most cells of the body and in most living organisms. The invertebrate visual system that we study is the fastest G protein-coupled system in all biology. In my laboaratory we are conducting research in the invertebrate North Atlantic squid that has large eyes that are very similar in structure to humans. Over the past fifteen years my laboratory has isolated many of the proteins involved in the visual system of the squid and we have cloned DNAs encoding these proteins. We have uncovered many of the molecular interactions that both activate and inactivate the visual process in squid and these have led us to a better understanding of how these types of signalling systems work.