Light Adaptation Process Research Articles

Altered excitation energy transfer between phycobilisome and photosystems in the absence of ApcG, a small linker peptide, in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, a cyanobacterium

Phycobilisome (PBS) is a large pigment-protein complex in cyanobacteria and red algae responsible for capturing sunlight and transferring its energy to photosystems (PS). Spectroscopic and structural properties of various PBSs have been widely studied, however, the nature of so-called complex-complex interactions between PBS and PSs remains much less explored. In this work, we have investigated the function of a newly identified PBS linker protein, ApcG, some domain of which, together with a loop region (PB-loop in ApcE), is possibly located near the PBS-PS interface. Using Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, we generated an ApcG deletion mutant and probed its deletion effect on the energetic coupling between PBS and photosystems. Steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopic characterization of the purified ΔApcG-PBS demonstrated that ApcG removal weakly affects the photophysical properties of PBS for which the spectroscopic properties of terminal energy emitters are comparable to those of PBS from wild-type strain. However, analysis of fluorescence decay imaging datasets reveals that ApcG deletion induces disruptions within the allophycocyanin (APC) core, resulting in the emergence (splitting) of two spectrally diverse subgroups with some short-lived APC. Profound spectroscopic changes of the whole ΔApcG mutant cell, however, emerge during state transition, a dynamic process of light scheme adaptation. The mutant cells in State I show a substantial increase in PBS-related fluorescence. On the other hand, global analysis of time-resolved fluorescence demonstrates that in general ApcG deletion does not alter or inhibit state transitions interpreted in terms of the changes of the PSII and PSI fluorescence emission intensity. The results revealed yet–to–be discovered mechanism of ApcG-docking induced excitation energy transfer regulation within PBS or to Photosystems.

Characterization of the Rate-Limiting Steps in the Dark-To-Light Transitions of Closed Photosystem II: Temperature Dependence and Invariance of Waiting Times during Multiple Light Reactions.

Rate-limiting steps in the dark-to-light transition of Photosystem II (PSII) were discovered by measuring the variable chlorophyll-a fluorescence transients elicited by single-turnover saturating flashes (STSFs). It was shown that in diuron-treated samples: (i) the first STSF, despite fully reducing the QA quinone acceptor molecule, generated only an F1(<Fm) fluorescence level; (ii) to produce the maximum (Fm) level, additional excitations were required, which, however, (iii) were effective only with sufficiently long Δτ waiting times between consecutive STSFs. Detailed studies revealed the gradual formation of the light-adapted charge-separated state, PSIIL. The data presented here substantiate this assignment: (i) the Δτ1/2 half-increment rise (or half-waiting) times of the diuron-treated isolated PSII core complexes (CCs) of Thermostichus vulcanus and spinach thylakoid membranes displayed similar temperature dependences between 5 and −80 °C, with substantially increased values at low temperatures; (ii) the Δτ1/2 values in PSII CC were essentially invariant on the Fk−to-Fk+1 (k = 1−4) increments both at 5 and at −80 °C, indicating the involvement of the same physical mechanism during the light-adaptation process of PSIIL. These data are in harmony with the earlier proposed role of dielectric relaxation processes in the formation of the light-adapted charge-separated state and in the variable chlorophyll-a fluorescence of PSII.

The Use of Optical Coherence Tomography to Demonstrate Dark and Light Adaptation in a Live Moth.

To work effectively, the eyes of nocturnal insects have a problem they must overcome. During the night, the light levels are low, so their eyes need to be very sensitive; but they also need a way of adapting to environmental light conditions, and protecting those sensitive organs, if a bright light is encountered. Human eyes have a pupil that changes size to regulate light input to the eye. Moths (Lepidoptera) use a light absorbing pigment that moves position to limit the light within the eye. This pigment migration is difficult to record because it is a dynamic process and will only occur in a live moth. This paper presents the first use of Ocular Coherence Tomography as a method of viewing anatomical detail in a compound eye. This is noninvasive and does not harm the insect. To demonstrate the effectiveness, this article documents the dynamic process of light adaptation within a moth’s eye.

A visual-degradation-inspired model with HSV color-encoding for contour detection

BackgroundGiven energy metabolism, visual information degradation plays an essential role in the retina- lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN)-primary visual cortex (V1)-secondary visual cortex (V2) pathway, and is a pivotal issue for visual information processing. Degradation helps the visual nervous system conserve brain energy and efficiently perceive the real world even though a small fraction of visual information reaches the early visual areas. The coding of contour features (edge and corner) is achieved in the retina-LGN-V1-V2 pathway. Based on the above, we proposed a contour detection model based on degradation (CDMD). New methodInspired by pupillary light reflex regulation, we took into consideration the novel approach of the hue-saturation-value (HSV) module for color encoding to meet the subtle chromaticity change rather than using the traditional red-green-blue (RGB) module, following the mechanisms of dark (DA) and light (LA) adaptation processes in photoreceptors. Meanwhile, the degradation mechanism was introduced as a novel strategy focusing only on the essential information to detect contour features, mimicking contour detection by visual perception under the restriction of axons in each optic nerve biologically. Ultimately, we employed the feedback mechanism achieving the optimal HSV value for each pixel of the experimental datasets. ResultsWe used the publicly available Berkeley Segmentation Data Set 500 (BSDS500) to assess the effectiveness of our CDMD model, introduced the F-measure to evaluate the results. The F-measure score was 0.65, achieved by our model. Moreover, CDMD with HSV has a better sensitivity for subtle chromaticity changes than CDMD with RGB. Comparison with existing methodsExperimental results demonstrated that our CDMD model, which functions close to the real visual system, achieved a more competitive performance with low computational cost than some state-of-the-art non-deep-learning and biologically inspired models. Compared with deep-learning-based algorithms, our model contains fewer parameters and computation time, does not require additional visual features, as well as an extra training process. ConclusionsOur proposed CDMD model is a novel approach for contour detection, which mimics the cognitive function of contour detection in early visual areas, and realizes a competitive performance in image processing. It contributes to bridging the gap between the biological visual system and computer vision.

Ultrastructural evidence for the origin of the subretinal pigment shield in the compound eye of Drosophila melanogaster.

Little morphological information is available about subretinal pigment shields in insect compound eyes, especially ultrastructural information. The latter is however needed in order to detect possible smallest projections that emanate from pigment-granule-bearing cells and pass through the basal matrix (BM), but that are not visible in light micrographs. Previous work on the subretinal pigment shield in Drosophila melanogaster suggests that the pigment cell population located below the BM is closely associated with secondary and tertiary pigment cells. Whether these cells stay in connection throughout life with the subretinal regions via thin projections that pass through the fenestrae of the BM, or whether the subretinal parts later become separated during eye development remained so far unknown. Our investigation of the periphery of the BM by three-dimensional reconstruction based on serial-sectioning transmission electron microscopy has revealed that the secondary and tertiary pigment cells possess thin projections that pass through the fenestrae of the BM and thus connect the cellular regions above and below the BM in the adult compound eye. The subretinal pigment shield of D. melanogaster is therefore of retinal origin and is not composed of additional subretinal pigment cells. The maintained bond allows the active displacement of pigment granules below the BM during the process of dark and light adaptation of the compound eye.

Light-induced changes of the subretinal space of the temporal retina observed via optical coherence tomography

Photoreceptor function is impaired in many retinal diseases like age-related macular degeneration. Currently, assessment of the photoreceptor function for the early diagnosis and monitoring of these diseases is either subjective, as in visual field testing, requires contact with the eye, like in electroretinography, or relies on research prototypes with acquisition speeds unattained by conventional imaging systems. We developed an objective, noncontact method to monitor photoreceptor function using a standard optical coherence tomography system. This method can be used with various white light sources for stimulation. The technique was applied in five volunteers and detected a decrease of volume of the subretinal space associated with light adaptation processes of the retina.

Pathway-specific light adaptation in human electroretinograms.

The cellular origins of slow ERG changes during light adaptation following a dark-adapted state are still unclear. To study light adaptation, six healthy, normal trichromats were dark-adapted for 30 min prior to full-field ERG recordings to sinusoidal stimuli that isolate responses of the L- or M-cones or that stimulate luminance and chromatic mechanisms at 12 or 36 Hz. Recordings were performed for 16 min with 2-min intervals after onset of a constant background. Generally, the responses were sine-wave-like, and the first harmonic (fundamental) component dominated the Fourier spectrum except for the 12-Hz luminance stimulus in which two components, a sine-wave-like component and a transient component, determined the response profiles, leading to large second harmonic components. The amplitude of the first harmonic component (F) increased as a function of the light-adaptation time except for the 12-Hz luminance stimulus at which the F component decreased as a function of the light-adaptation period. The phase of the first harmonic component changed only slightly (less than 30°) during the light-adaptation period for all stimuli conditions. The L/M ratio in luminance reflecting ERGs decreased with increasing adaptation time. Our present data suggest that the light-adaptation process mainly reflects changes in the luminance pathway. The responses to 12-Hz luminance stimuli are determined by two different luminance driven pathways with different adaptation characteristics.

Zebrafish Recoverin Isoforms Display Differences in Calcium Switch Mechanisms.

Primary steps in vertebrate vision occur in rod and cone cells of the retina and require precise molecular switches in excitation, recovery, and adaptation. In particular, recovery of the photoresponse and light adaptation processes are under control of neuronal Ca2+ sensor (NCS) proteins. Among them, the Ca2+ sensor recoverin undergoes a pronounced Ca2+-dependent conformational change, a prototypical so-called Ca2+-myristoyl switch, which allows selective targeting of G protein-coupled receptor kinase. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) has gained attention as a model organism in vision research. It expresses four different recoverin isoforms (zRec1a, zRec1b, zRec2a, and zRec2b) that are orthologs to the one known mammalian variant. The expression pattern of the four isoforms cover both rod and cone cells, but the differential distribution in cones points to versatile functions of recoverin in these cell types. Initial functional studies on zebrafish larvae indicate different Ca2+-sensitive working modes for zebrafish recoverins, but experimental evidence is lacking so far. The aims of the present study are (1) to measure specific Ca2+-sensing properties of the different recoverin isoforms, (2) to ask whether switch mechanisms triggered by Ca2+ resemble that one observed with mammalian recoverin, and (3) to investigate a possible impact of an attached myristoyl moiety. For addressing these questions, we employ fluorescence spectroscopy, surface plasmon resonance (SPR), dynamic light scattering, and equilibrium centrifugation. Exposure of hydrophobic amino acids, due to the myristoyl switch, differed among isoforms and depended also on the myristoylation state of the particular recoverin. Ca2+-induced rearrangement of the protein-water shell was for all variants less pronounced than for the bovine ortholog indicating either a modified Ca2+-myristoyl switch or no switch. Our results have implications for a step-by-step response of recoverin isoforms to changing intracellular Ca2+ during illumination.

Effect of eccentricity and light level on the timing of light adaptation mechanisms.

We explored the complexity of the light adaptation process, assessing adaptation recovery (Ar) at different eccentricities and light levels. Luminance thresholds were obtained with transient background fields at mesopic and photopic light levels for temporal retinal eccentricities (0°-15°) with test/background stimulus size of 0.5°/1° using a staircase procedure in a two-channel Maxwellian view optical system. Ar was obtained in comparison with steady data [Vis. Res.125, 12 (2016)VISRAM0042-698910.1016/j.visres.2016.04.008]. Light level proportionally affects Ar only at fovea. Photopic extrafoveal thresholds were one log unit higher for transient conditions. Adaptation was equally fast at low light levels for different retinal locations with variations mainly affected by noise. These results evidence different timing in the mechanisms of adaptation involved.

Multiple cone pathways are involved in photic regulation of retinal dopamine.

Dopamine is a key neurotransmitter in the retina and plays a central role in the light adaptive processes of the visual system. The sole source of retinal dopamine is dopaminergic amacrine cells (DACs). We and others have previously demonstrated that DACs are activated by rods, cones, and intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) upon illumination. However, it is still not clear how each class of photosensitive cells generates light responses in DACs. We genetically isolated cone function in mice to specifically examine the cone-mediated responses of DACs and their neural pathways. In addition to the reported excitatory input to DACs from light-increment (ON) bipolar cells, we found that cones alternatively signal to DACs via a retrograde signalling pathway from ipRGCs. Cones also produce ON and light-decrement (OFF) inhibitory responses in DACs, which are mediated by other amacrine cells, likely driven by type 1 and type 2/3a OFF bipolar cells, respectively. Dye injections indicated that DACs had similar morphological profiles with or without ON/OFF inhibition. Our data demonstrate that cones utilize specific parallel excitatory and inhibitory circuits to modulate DAC activity and efficiently regulate dopamine release and the light-adaptive state of the retina.

Fluorescence quenching of the phycobilisome terminal emitter LCM from the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 detected in vivo and in vitro

The fluorescence emission of the phycobilisome (PBS) core-membrane linker protein (LCM) can be directly quenched by photoactivated orange carotenoid protein (OCP) at room temperature both in vitro and in vivo, which suggests the crucial role of the OCP–LCM interaction in non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) of cyanobacteria. This implication was further supported (i) by low-temperature (77K) fluorescence emission and excitation measurements which showed a specific quenching of the corresponding long-wavelength fluorescence bands which belong to the PBS terminal emitters in the presence of photoactivated OCP, (ii) by systematic investigation of the fluorescence quenching and recovery in wild type and LCM-less cells of the model cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, and (iii) by the impact of dephosphorylation of isolated PBS on the quenching. The OCP binding site within the PBS and the most probable geometrical arrangement of the OCP–allophycocyanin (APC) complex was determined in silico using the crystal structures of OCP and APC. Geometrically modeled attachment of OCP to the PBS core is not at variance with the OCP–LCM interaction. It was concluded that besides being a very central element in the PBS to reaction center excitation energy transfer and PBS assembly, LCM also has an essential role in the photoprotective light adaptation processes of cyanobacteria.

Femtosecond Transient Absorption Spectroscopy on the Light-Adaptation of Living Plants

The photoprotection reaction of the photosynthetic system under excessive sun light has been resolved for the first time by femtosecond absorption spectroscopy from the visible to near-infrared in intact leaves of Arabidopsis thaliana . The light-adaptation process was measured and a prominent non-photochemical quenching (npq) behavior located in photosystem II was observed. Among the various npq quenching mechanisms which have been discussed so far the most likely is the formation of chlorophyll-chlorophyll charge-transfer states which create a powerful energy dissipation pathway for the quenching.

Easy does it when bleaching isolated mouse rods

The neural response of a retinal rod to steady illumination fades over time. During a continuous exposure, the phototransduction machinery is reset so that responses to a subsequent intensity change will be enhanced. This process of light adaptation is useful because while we may be creatures of habit, our brains are most interested in change. Exposure to very bright light, either as a flash or as a step, causes a profound loss in sensitivity that far exceeds the loss in quantal catch due to the bleaching of rhodopsin. A 30% bleach suppresses sensitivity in human rods by a millionfold. The Dowling–Rushton relation, formulated 50 years ago, describes the logarithmic decline in sensitivity to light that occurs with the fractional bleach of rhodopsin. Although it was appreciated that bleaching produces a condition in which rods appear to be subjected to a virtual, ‘equivalent’ light, the mechanistic basis was not resolved experimentally until 1994, when Cornwall & Fain (1994) showed that opsin (bleached rhodopsin) weakly activates the phototransduction cascade. This phenomenon is called bleaching adaptation, although from a vision perspective, it is not adaptive at all (reviewed in Lamb & Pugh, 2004). Light isomerizes rhodopsin and causes it to break apart into apo-opsin and all-trans retinal. Retinal is converted to retinol and in the intact eye, the retinol is transferred to neighbouring pigment epithelial cells. In turn these cells provide 11-cis retinal, which binds to opsin to regenerate rhodopsin, enabling rods to emerge from the bleach-adapted state. For physiological studies, it is useful to separate rods from the pigment epithelium in order to prevent regeneration so that bleaching adaptation will last indefinitely. Early work focused on isolated amphibian rods because their large size conferred technical advantages. Although mouse rods are tiny (Fig. 1), the expanding collection of mutant mice with altered phototransduction machinery makes them an inviting resource. One glaring obstacle barred the way. Bleaching more than ∼5% of the rhodopsin in an isolated mouse rod elicits a saturating response from which it never recovers. In a recent issue of The Journal of Physiology, Nymark and colleagues (2012) stepped up to the task. Suspecting that rapid bleaching deluged the rod with toxic retinoids, they tried bleaching the rhodopsin slowly and added albumin to the bath in hopes that it would bind and carry off the retinoids. Figure 1 Isolated salamander (left) and mouse (right) rods at the same magnification Success – the rods survived! Now the partially bleached mouse rods exhibit behaviour characteristic of bleaching adaptation in amphibian rods but with several intriguing differences. Microspectrophotometric measurements revealed that photobleaching was slower for mouse rhodopsin than for human rhodopsin at body temperature and even took longer than amphibian rhodopsin at room temperature. The significance of a slow bleaching process is that it prolongs dark adaptation because until it is complete, photointermediates can repopulate the active state of rhodopsin and produce bursts of cascade activity. Even more surprising, mouse opsin was about a hundred times more effective at activating the phototransduction cascade than amphibian opsin. Since retinoids block the light-regulated ion channels (Dean et al. 2002) and stimulate the activity of opsin, it is no wonder that isolated mouse rods are overwhelmed by relatively small bleaches. Compared with a tiny mouse rod, a given fractional bleach produces a hundred times more opsin in a large salamander rod and there is a fivefold smaller surface-to-volume ratio of the outer segment that must impede the removal of spent retinoid. Opsins are members of the large G protein-coupled receptor family. In general, apo-receptors possess a basal activity. Thus, salamanders were forced to evolve efficient ways of coping with bleaching exposures. Otherwise, a prohibitively long period of dark adaptation would be required before their greater quantal catch could be put to use. One would think that mouse rods would benefit from faster photobleaching and reduced opsin activity. Perhaps evolutionary constraints were relaxed in small mouse rods and measures to suppress apo-opsin activity to the low level in salamander would have come at too high a cost. For example, Nymark et al. (2012) suggest that there may be a tradeoff with energy consumption. Rod diameter can vary by an order of magnitude across fish species. It would be interesting to see whether small fish rods more closely resemble mouse rods while large fish rods more closely resemble amphibian rods with respect to rhodopsin bleaching and bleaching adaptation. Alternatively, ocular circulation, thermoregulation or other factors may be more important than rod size. In the future, it should be possible to trace the bases for species differences in bleaching adaptation to particular modifications in the molecular structures of opsins and to variations in the regulatory control over cascade activity.

Asymmetrical growth of the photopic hill during the light adaptation effect

In response to progressively stronger flashes delivered against a rod saturating background light, the amplitude of the photopic ERG b-wave first increases, reaches a maximal value (V (max)) and then decreases gradually to a plateau where the amplitude of the b-wave equals that of the a-wave, a phenomenon known as the photopic hill (PH). The purpose of this study was to investigate how the PH grew during the course of the light adaptation (LA) process that follows a period of dark adaptation (DA): the so-called light adaptation effect (LAE). Photopic ERG (time-integrated) luminance-response (LR) functions were obtained prior to (control-fully light adapted) and at 0, 5 and 10min of LA following a 30-min period of DA. A mathematical model combining a Gaussian and a logistic growth function, suggested to reflect the OFF and ON retinal contribution to the PH respectively, was fitted to the LR functions thus obtained. Our results indicate that the magnitude of the cone ERG LAE is modulated by the stimulus luminance, with b-wave enhancements being maximal for luminance levels that result in the descent of the PH. The Gaussian function grew significantly with LA while the logistic growth function remained basically unchanged. Our findings would therefore suggest that the LAE reflects primarily an increase in the retinal OFF response during LA.

The Progression of Circadian Phase during Light Exposure in Animals and Humans

Studies in humans and mice revealed that circadian phase shifting effects of light are larger at the beginning of a light exposure interval than during subsequent exposure. Little is known about the dynamics of this response reduction phenomenon. Here the authors propose a method to obtain information on the progression of phase during light exposure. Phase response curves to intervals of light exposure over a wide range in duration are available for flesh flies, mice, and humans. By comparing the phase shifts induced by pulses of various durations but starting at the same circadian phase, the progression of phase during a long interval (hours) of light exposure is reconstructed for each of these 3 species. For flies, the phase progression curves show that light pulses-if long enough- eventually make the pacemaker stabilize around InT18 (near subjective dusk), as is typical for strong resetting. The progression of phase toward the final value never shows advances larger than 7 h, while delays can be as large as 18 h. By applying the phase progression curve method presented in this study, differences between advances and delays in type-0 phase response curves can be distinguished clearly. In flesh flies (Sarcophaga) this bifurcation between delays and advance occurs when light exposure starts at InT0 (subjective midnight). The present study confirms earlier findings in mice showing that the beginning of the light pulse generates stronger phase shifts than subsequent hours of light. Response reduction is complete within 1 h of exposure. It is argued that the variation is not so much due to light adaptation processes, but rather to response saturation. In contrast to light adaptation, response saturation is fundamental to proper functioning of the circadian pacemaker during natural entrainment. For understanding entrainment of the pacemaker to natural light, phase progression curves in which naturalistic light profiles are applied could be an important tool.

The dynamics of light adaptation in Ascalaphus (Libelloides macaronius; Neuroptera)

The owl-fl y or Ascalaphus (Libelloides macaronius; Neuroptera) is an insect with a UV-sensitive superposition eye. Although optical superposition is mainly a feature of dusk/dark active animals, this is a predator living and hunting in bright sunlight. In such conditions the process of light adaptation is believed to be very important, yet it has so far only been partially explored in the owl-fly. Here we present physiological evidence for the migration of the screening pigment, which functions as a light control mechanism. The process of light adaptation was studied optically by dynamic imaging and optical refl ection spectroscopy of the eye-glow. Weestablished that the eye-glow is reduced uniformly upon illumination and that its diameter doesn’t get smaller, which is indicative of pigment migration in the primary pigment cells. The change in spectral absorbance of the dorso-frontal eye is very similar to the absorbance spectrum of the primary pigment cell screening pigment. We found that the change in the light screening due toadaptation is rather small – no more than 10 fold for a 10000 fold change in light intensity. We also found that the rate of adaptation is light-sensitive. We propose that a signifi cant part of this light sensitivity is due to indirect heating of the eye and to the very steep temperature dependency of the rate of adaptation between 30 and 35°C.

The dynamics of light adaptation in Ascalaphus (Libelloides macaronius; Neuroptera)

The owl-fly or Ascalaphus (Libelloides macaronius; Neuroptera) is an insect with a UV-sensitive superposition eye. Although optical superposition is mainly a feature of dusk/dark active animals, this is a predator living and hunting in bright sunlight. In such conditions the process of light adaptation is believed to be very important, yet it has so far only been partially explored in the owl-fly. Here we present physiological evidence for the migration of the screening pigment, which functions as a light control mechanism. The process of light adaptation was studied optically by dynamic imaging and optical reflection spectroscopy of the eye-glow. We established that the eye-glow is reduced uniformly upon illumination and that its diameter doesn’t get smaller, which is indicative of pigment migration in the primary pigment cells. The change in spectral absorbance of the dorso-frontal eye is very similar to the absorbance spectrum of the primary pigment cell screening pigment. We found that the change in the light screening due to adaptation is rather small – no more than 10 fold for a 10000 fold change in light intensity. We also found that the rate of adaptation is light-sensitive. We propose that a significant part of this light sensitivity is due to indirect heating of the eye and to the very steep temperature dependency of the rate of adaptation between 30 and 35°C.

Time course and development of light adaptation processes in the outer zebrafish retina

Retinomotor movements are morphological changes in the outer retina in response to changing light conditions. They can be separated into two components: Migration of pigment granules within the microvilli of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and positional changes in photoreceptor cells. These positional changes optimize exposure of the cone and rod photoreceptors to light. The aim of this study was to analyze both the time course of retinomotor movements in the adult zebrafish and the maturation of these processes in the developing fish. We show that retinomotor movements are used as a dark/light adaptation mechanism in zebrafish. In adult zebrafish, melanin granules of the RPE migrate with constant speed and reach the fully light adapted (LA) state approximately after 1 h. In contrast, about two thirds of double cone outer segment movements are finished in 5 min, and are fully completed in 10 to 20 min. During development there are three crucial stages leading to mature retinomotor movements in response to light: at 5 dpf (days post fertilization) the migration of pigment granules begins, at 20 dpf the pigment granules condense in the apical part of the RPE microvilli, and at 28 dpf, concomitant with the functional maturation of rods, the double cones contract as in adult retinas.

Inhibitory modulation of photoreceptor melatonin synthesis via a nitric oxide-mediated mechanism

Nitric oxide (NO) has been suggested to have many physiological functions in the vertebrate retina, including a role in light-adaptive processes. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of the NO-donor sodium nitroprusside (SNP) on the activity of arylalkylamine- N-acetyltransferase (AA-NAT; EC. 2.3.1.87), the activity of which responds to light and reflects the changes in retinal melatonin synthesis—a key feature of light-adaptive responses in photoreceptors. Incubation of dark-adapted and dark-maintained retinas with SNP lead to the NO-specific suppression of AA-NAT activity, with NO suppressing AA-NAT activity to a level similar to that seen in the presence of dopaminergic agonists or light. Increased levels of cGMP appeared to be causally involved in the suppression of AA-NAT activity by SNP, as non-hydrolysable analogues of cGMP and the cGMP-specific phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitor zaprinast also significantly suppressed AA-NAT activity, while an inhibitor of soluble guanylate cyclase blocked the effect of SNP. While this chain of events may not be part of the normal physiology of the retina, it could be important in pathological circumstances that are associated with marked increase in levels of cGMP, as is found to be the case in certain forms photoreceptor degeneration, which are produced by defects in cGMP phosphodiesterase activity.

Visual sensitivity across the menstrual cycle

This study was designed to evaluate the hypothesis that hormonal change can affect lower level light-adaptation processes, which are likely to be retinally based. Foveal visual sensitivities were measured across several menstrual cycles of four women not using hormonally acting medication and across several menstrual cycles of three women using a triphasic oral contraceptive. One woman, diagnosed with premenstrual syndrome (PMS), was a subject for both groups. Sensitivities were measured for a series of test wavelengths for 580-nm backgrounds of 2.0 and 4.0 log td. Of the six individuals tested, one had clear evidence of visual-adaptation changes occurring in phase with the menstrual cycle. Prior to using the oral contraceptive, this individual (the PMS subject) experienced changes of short-wavelength-sensitive (SWS)-cone-mediated sensitivities of up to about 1.4 log unit on the 4.0 log td background. Her SWS-cone-mediated sensitivities tended to be highest near ovulation and lowest premenstrually. Threshold-versus-illuminance (TVI) curves confirmed that the rate of sensitivity decrease with increasing background illuminance (i.e. the TVI slope) was greater premenstrually. The degree of background-induced desensitization within her middle-wavelength-sensitive (MWS)/long-wavelength-sensitive (LWS) cone pathways also appeared to vary cyclically, but the magnitude of the variation was smaller and the time course appeared to be different. When this subject began oral contraceptive use, the patterns of sensitivity change were all altered. None of the other five subjects experienced changes of SWS-cone-mediated vision that were cyclic and significantly adaptation-state dependent. However, there was evidence for a limited degree of cyclic adaptation change within the MWS/LWS cone pathways of at least one additional subject. We conclude that hormonal change can--for some unknown proportion of women--be linked to alterations of retinal function. However, the alterations are not the same for all visual pathways, and there are pronounced individual differences. The data also demonstrate that individuals' visual adaptation capabilities can vary substantially over periods of weeks.