Bovine Retinal Rod Outer Segments Research Articles

Alkyl glucosides as effective solubilizing agents for bovine rhodopsin. A comparison with several commonly used detergents

The suitability of octyl and decyl-β- d-glucoside as solubilizing agents for the bovine retinal rod outer segment disc membrane was investigated and compared to that of hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide, N,N- dimethyldodecylamine oxide, Emulphogene BC-720 and digitonin. The properties measured included the thermal stability of rhodopsin, regenerability of bleached rhodopsin by addition of 11-cis- retinal , and the rate of denaturation of bleached rhodopsin as measured by changes in the ultraviolet CD spectrum. Denaturing tendencies of the detergents were also evaluated by observing their effects on the absorption and CD spectra of sperm whale metmyoglobin. Our results demonstrate that octyl glucoside is superior to the other detergents, with the possible exception of digitonin, by the above criteria. Unlike digitonin, however, octyl glucoside affords rapid solubilization of the disc membrane and is itself highly soluble. Decyl glucoside has properties equivalent or superior to octyl glucoside, but salts and buffers interfere with its ability to solubilize the disc membrane. The well defined chemical composition, ease of removal by dialysis, and non-denaturing properties of the alkyl glucosides make them attractive detergents for membrane research.

The effect of trypsin on retinal rod outer segments: Trypsin digestion as a means of isolating viable discs

The effect of the proteolytic enzyme, trypsin, on bovine retinal rod outer segments has been investigated. Electron microscopy showed that trypsin rapidly digests the outer plasma membrane releasing free and apparently intact discs. That the discs were intact was confirmed by their ability to swell in hypotonic solutions. The visual pigment, rhodopsin, which accounts for some 85% of the total protein of the discs appears not to be digested by trypsin: neither its characteristic absorption spectrum, its ability to regenerate following bleaching by light, nor its molecular weight, were altered by the enzyme. It is suggested that the incubation of rod outer segments with trypsin is a gentle and rapid means of isolating free, viable discs.

Natural abundance 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of the lipid in intact bovine retinal rod outer segment membranes.

ADVERTISEMENT RETURN TO ISSUEPREVArticleNEXTNatural abundance carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of the lipid in intact bovine retinal rod outer segment membranesF. Millett, P. A. Hargrave, and M. A. RafteryCite this: Biochemistry 1973, 12, 19, 3591–3592Publication Date (Print):September 1, 1973Publication History Published online1 May 2002Published inissue 1 September 1973https://doi.org/10.1021/bi00743a002RIGHTS & PERMISSIONSArticle Views33Altmetric-Citations24LEARN ABOUT THESE METRICSArticle Views are the COUNTER-compliant sum of full text article downloads since November 2008 (both PDF and HTML) across all institutions and individuals. These metrics are regularly updated to reflect usage leading up to the last few days.Citations are the number of other articles citing this article, calculated by Crossref and updated daily. Find more information about Crossref citation counts.The Altmetric Attention Score is a quantitative measure of the attention that a research article has received online. Clicking on the donut icon will load a page at altmetric.com with additional details about the score and the social media presence for the given article. Find more information on the Altmetric Attention Score and how the score is calculated. Share Add toView InAdd Full Text with ReferenceAdd Description ExportRISCitationCitation and abstractCitation and referencesMore Options Share onFacebookTwitterWechatLinked InReddit PDF (237 KB) Get e-Alerts Get e-Alerts

Phospholipid composition and extractibility of light- and dark-adapted bovine retinal rod outer segments

The treatment of light- and dark-adapted bovine rod outer segments with a bleaching solvent system (2:1 CHCl 3-MeOH) resulted in phospholipid extracts with no discernible quantitative differences. Functional group analyses of both extracts showed no compositional variations and served to characterize the phospholipid content of bovine rod outer segments.