Regulation of opsin expression in the retina of salmonid fishes

鲑鱼视网膜视蛋白表达的调节

• 批准号: 238886-2010
• 负责人: NovalesFlamarique, Inigo
• 金额: $ 2.55万
• 依托单位: Simon Fraser University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2016-01-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=594196
• 关键词: Regulation; opsin; expression; retina; salmonid

The research proposed examines transcriptional mechanisms of visual pigment protein (opsin) expression in the vertebrate retina using cell cultures, and salmonid fishes as model organisms. These animals undergo natural switches in opsin expression that can be artificially induced by exogenous exposure to thyroid hormone, a crucial molecule during vertebrate development. The proposed research focuses on unraveling the mechanisms of action of thyroid hormone, retinoic acid and their respective nuclear receptors in controlling opsin expression during development and in the mature (differentiated) retina. Because nuclear hormone receptors and their ligands (e.g. thyroid hormone, retinoic acid) are involved in many fundamental processes of development, the research proposed here has wide applicability to many areas of developmental biology. As well, because opsin expression dictates the visual capabilities of an animal, this research is of fundamental importance to understand photoreceptor plasticity and the functional reasons behind the chromatic organization of cone mosaics in the vertebrate retina.

这项研究提出了以鲑鱼为模式生物，利用细胞培养技术研究视觉色素蛋白(Opsin)在脊椎动物视网膜中表达的转录机制。这些动物经历了视蛋白表达的自然开关，这种开关可以通过外源暴露于甲状腺激素而人工诱导，甲状腺激素是脊椎动物发育过程中的关键分子。这项拟议的研究集中于揭示甲状腺激素、维甲酸及其各自的核受体在发育过程中和成熟(分化)视网膜中控制视蛋白表达的作用机制。由于核激素受体及其配体(如甲状腺激素、维甲酸)参与了发育的许多基本过程，因此本文提出的研究在发育生物学的许多领域具有广泛的适用性。此外，由于视蛋白的表达决定了动物的视觉能力，因此这项研究对于了解脊椎动物视网膜中光感受器的可塑性和锥体马赛克染色组织背后的功能原因具有重要意义。