Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 6, 2026

Desensitization and Recovery of Crayfish Photoreceptors Upon Delivery of a Light Stimulus
Published on: November 9, 2019
Light induced and circadian effects on retinal photoreceptor cell crystallins
Daniel Organisciak1, Ruth Darrow, Linda Barsalou
1Petticrew Research Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Boonshoft School of Medicine Wright State University, Dayton, OH, USA. dto@wright.edu
Abstract:
Crystallins in the retina may serve a chaperone-like protective function. In this study we measured mRNA levels for alpha-, beta- and gamma-crystallins in rat retinas following treatment with potentially damaging levels of light. We also determined crystallin protein patterns in photoreceptor cell rod outer segments (ROSs) isolated from rats exposed to intense light. Weanling albino rats were maintained in a dim cyclic light environment or in darkness for 40days. At P60 animals were treated with intense visible light, for as long as 8h, beginning at various times of the day or night. Retinas were excised immediately after light treatment and used for quantitative RT-PCR, or to prepare ROSs for western analysis. Some eyes were frozen in OCT for crystallin immunohistochemistry. Intense light exposure led to increases in mRNA expression for all retinal crystallins and to changes in ROS crystallin immunoreactivity. These light-induced changes were found to depend on the time of day that exposure started, duration of light treatment and previous light rearing history. We suggest that crystallin synthesis in retina exhibits a dependence on both light stress and circadian rhythm and that within photoreceptor cells crystallins appear to migrate in a light-independent, circadian fashion.
Related Concept Videos
Photoreceptors and Visual Pathways
Channel Rhodopsins
Rhodopsins belong to the family of cell surface proteins called G-protein coupled receptors,...
Biological Clocks and Seasonal Responses
Photoreceptors and Plant Responses to Light
Circadian Rhythms and Gene Regulation
Chronopharmacokinetics: Circadian Rhythms and Influence on Drug Response
The time of drug administration is an important factor to consider, as it can influence the toxic dose of a drug. For example, a study conducted by Prins et al. in 1997 examined the effects of the timing of...
