TY - JOUR
T1 - Nonvisual photoreception in the chick iris
AU - Tu, Daniel C.
AU - Batten, Matthew L.
AU - Palczewski, Krzysztof
AU - Van Gelder, Russell N.
PY - 2004/10/1
Y1 - 2004/10/1
N2 - The embryonic chicken iris constricts to light ex vivo, but with characteristics atypical of visual phototransduction. The chick iris was most sensitive to short-wavelength light, demonstrating an action spectrum consistent with cryptochrome rather than with opsin pigments. Pupillary responses did not attenuate after saturating light exposure, but showed paradoxical potentiation. Iris photosensitivity was not affected by retinoid depletion or inhibitors of visual phototransduction. Knockdown of cryptochrome expression, but not of melanopsin expression, decreased iris photosensitivity. These data characterize a non-opsin photoreception mechanism in a vertebrate eye and suggest a conserved photoreceptive role for cryptochromes in vertebrates.
AB - The embryonic chicken iris constricts to light ex vivo, but with characteristics atypical of visual phototransduction. The chick iris was most sensitive to short-wavelength light, demonstrating an action spectrum consistent with cryptochrome rather than with opsin pigments. Pupillary responses did not attenuate after saturating light exposure, but showed paradoxical potentiation. Iris photosensitivity was not affected by retinoid depletion or inhibitors of visual phototransduction. Knockdown of cryptochrome expression, but not of melanopsin expression, decreased iris photosensitivity. These data characterize a non-opsin photoreception mechanism in a vertebrate eye and suggest a conserved photoreceptive role for cryptochromes in vertebrates.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=6044248706&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=6044248706&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1126/science.1101484
DO - 10.1126/science.1101484
M3 - Article
C2 - 15459395
AN - SCOPUS:6044248706
SN - 0036-8075
VL - 306
SP - 129
EP - 131
JO - Science
JF - Science
IS - 5693
ER -