title: Photoreceptor specific guanylate cyclases in vertebrate phototransduction.
abstract: Two membrane bound guanylate cyclases are expressed in vertebrate photoreceptor cells. They serve a key function in photoreceptor physiology as they synthesize the intracellular transmitter of photoexcitation guanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cGMP). Both cyclases named ROS-GC1 and ROS-GC2 form a subclass of membrane bound cyclases and differ in many aspects from hormone peptide receptor guanylate cyclases. One unique feature is their regulation by three small Ca2+-binding proteins called GCAPs. These regulatory proteins sense changes in the cytoplasmic Ca2+-concentration [Ca2+] during illumination and activate ROS-GCs when the [Ca2+] decreases below the value in a dark adapted cell of 500-600 nM. Recent work has identified the target regions of GCAP-1 in ROS-GC1. In addition to GCAPs several other proteins including aktin, tubulin, a glutamic-acid-rich protein and a GTPase accelerating protein (RGS9) were found to interact with ROS-GC1 and probably form a multiprotein complex.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Biologische Informationsverarbeitung 1, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany. k.w.koch@fz-juelich.de
authors.forename: Karl-Wilhelm
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Koch
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Duda
authors.forename: Rameshwar K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Sharma
mesh_terms: D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002384:Catalysis; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000201:enzymology; D006162:Guanylate Cyclase / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D020419:Photoreceptor Cells, Vertebrate / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000378:metabolism; D017948:Retinal Rod Photoreceptor Cells / Q000201:enzymology; D014785:Vision, Ocular
chemical_list: D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate; D006162:Guanylate Cyclase