| First Author | Ruether K | Year | 2010 |
| Journal | Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci | Volume | 51 |
| Issue | 11 | Pages | 6051-8 |
| PubMed ID | 20554612 | Mgi Jnum | J:171399 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:4949828 | Doi | 10.1167/iovs.09-4704 |
| Citation | Ruether K, et al. (2010) PKC{alpha} is essential for the proper activation and termination of rod bipolar cell response. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 51(11):6051-8 |
| abstractText | PURPOSE: Protein kinase (PKC)-alpha is abundant in retinal bipolar cells. This study was performed to explore its role in visual processing. METHODS: PKCalpha-knockout (Prkca(-/-)) mice and control animals were examined by using electroretinography (ERG), light microscopy, and immunocytochemistry. RESULTS: The Prkca(-/-) mice showed no signs of retinal degeneration up to 12 months of age, but ERG measurements indicated a decelerated increase in the ascending limb of the scotopic (rod-sensitive) b-wave as well as a delayed return to baseline. These results suggest that PKCalpha is an important modulator that affects bipolar cell signal transduction and termination. Confocal microscopy of retinal sections showed that PKCalpha co-localized with calbindin, which indicates a PKCalpha localization in close proximity to the horizontal cell terminals. In addition, the implicit time of the ERG c-wave originating from the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and the recovery of photoreceptors from bleaching conditions were substantially faster in the knockout mice than in the wild-type control animals. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that PKCalpha is a modulator of rod-bipolar cell function by accelerating glutamate-driven signal transduction and termination. This modulation is of importance in the switch between scotopic and photopic vision. Furthermore, PKCalpha seems to play a role in RPE function. |
