The relation of retinal sensitivity and rhodopsin in developing rat retina.
The authors have studied the relations of rhodopsin and retinal sensitivity in developing albino rats, (1) in the dark-adapted state and (2) after exposure to light that bleaches greater than 90% of rhodopsin. Developmental increases in dark-adapted b-wave sensitivity and rhodopsin content were related directly as has been reported previously for rhodopsin and PIII sensitivity of other developing retinas. During dark-adaptation, infant rat log a-wave and log b-wave sensitivities and adults' log b-wave sensitivity were related linearly to the proportion of rhodopsin present. The authors suspect that the sensitivity-rhodopsin relations of infant rat retina are determined mainly by photoreceptor processes. Thus, the infant rat provides a model for investigation of mechanisms underlying both (1) the direct relation of sensitivity and rhodopsin and (2) the log sensitivity-rhodopsin relation.
D000818:Animals; D003623:Dark Adaptation; D010782:Photolysis; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012160:Retina / Q000378:metabolism*; D012168:Retinal Pigments / Q000378:metabolism*; D012243:Rhodopsin / Q000378:metabolism*
D012168:Retinal Pigments; D012243:Rhodopsin