Phospholipase C beta 4 is involved in modulating the visual response in mice.
Expression of G protein-regulated phospholipase C (PLC) beta 4 in the retina, lateral geniculate nucleus, and superior colliculus implies that PLC beta 4 may play a role in the mammalian visual process. A mouse line that lacks PLC beta 4 was generated and the physiological significance of PLC beta 4 in murine visual function was investigated. Behavioral tests using a shuttle box demonstrated that the mice lacking PLC beta 4 were impaired in their visual processing abilities, whereas they showed no deficit in their auditory abilities. In addition, the PLC beta 4-null mice showed 4-fold reduction in the maximal amplitude of the rod a- and b-wave components of their electroretinograms relative to their littermate controls. However, recording from single rod photoreceptors did not reveal any significant differences between the PLC beta 4-null and wild-type littermates, nor were there any apparent differences in retinas examined with light microscopy. While the behavioral and electroretinographic results indicate that PLC beta 4 plays a significant role in mammalian visual signal processing, isolated rod recording shows little or no apparent deficit, suggesting that the effect of PLC beta 4 deficiency on the rod signaling pathway occurs at some stage after the initial phototransduction cascade and may require cell-cell interactions between rods and other retinal cells.
Jiang
H
H
Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, University of Rochester, NY 14642, USA.
Lyubarsky
A
A
Dodd
R
R
Vardi
N
N
Pugh
E
E
Baylor
D
D
Simon
M I
MI
Wu
D
D
D000818:Animals; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009154:Mutation; D054799:Phospholipase C beta; D012160:Retina / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology / Q000502:physiology*; D010738:Type C Phospholipases / Q000502:physiology*; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000201:enzymology / Q000502:physiology*
D007527:Isoenzymes; D010738:Type C Phospholipases; D054799:Phospholipase C beta; C518043:Plcb4 protein, mouse