Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 28, 2026
10:10
Dissection and Immunostaining of Imaginal Discs from Drosophila melanogaster
Published on: September 20, 2014
26.6K
Initiation of rod outer segment disc formation requires RDS
Dibyendu Chakraborty1, Shannon M Conley1, Muayyad R Al-Ubaidi1
1Department of Cell Biology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States of America.
Plos One
|June 5, 2014
Summary
Retinal degeneration slow (RDS) protein initiates rod outer segment (OS) disc formation, with rhodopsin mediating subsequent growth. This clarifies RDS
Area of Science:
- Cell Biology
- Ophthalmology
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Rod outer segment (OS) morphogenesis involves disc assembly within a rim.
- The roles of rim proteins like retinal degeneration slow (RDS) and ROM-1 are not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To elucidate the function of RDS and ROM-1 in OS morphogenesis.
- To determine the sequential roles of RDS and rhodopsin in disc formation.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of knockout mouse models lacking RDS, rhodopsin, or both.
- Microscopic examination of OS structure and protein localization.
Main Results:
- Absence of RDS prevents OS and disc formation.
- Rhodopsin deficiency allows nascent disc alignment but no full OS formation.
- Absence of both RDS and rhodopsin slows degeneration and stabilizes ROM-1, but disc formation does not occur.
Conclusions:
- RDS is essential for initiating OS rim formation, a prerequisite for disc assembly.
- Rhodopsin is crucial for the subsequent growth of discs within the OS.
- Understanding RDS's role explains photoreceptor sensitivity to its levels and RDS mutation-related diseases.
Related Concept Videos
01:31Mechanism of Lamellipodia Formation
3.1K
Cells migrating in response to external stimuli form lamellipodia, which are thin membrane protrusions supported by a mesh of linked, branched, or unbranched actin filaments. These actin filaments interact with myosin motor proteins, creating the dynamic actomyosin complex within the cytoskeleton. Contractility, or the ability to generate contractile stress, is inherent to the actomyosin complex. It helps cells detect the stiffness of the surrounding ECM and exert contractile force for...
3.1K
01:39Mechanism of Filopodia Formation
2.5K
Filopodia are thin, actin-rich cellular protrusions that play an important role in many fundamental cellular functions. They vary in their occurrence, length, and positioning in different cell types, suggesting their diverse roles.
Their main function is to guide migrating cells during normal tissue morphogenesis or cancer metastasis by recognizing and making initial contacts with the extracellular matrix. However, they can also act as stationary cell anchors or help to establish communication...
Their main function is to guide migrating cells during normal tissue morphogenesis or cancer metastasis by recognizing and making initial contacts with the extracellular matrix. However, they can also act as stationary cell anchors or help to establish communication...
2.5K
01:21Cell Polarization by Rho Proteins
3.2K
Cell polarity is the asymmetric distribution of cellular and membrane components, making one side of the cell different from the other. This polarity is essential to many processes such as embryogenesis, axon migration, glucose transport across epithelial cells, and directional cell migration. A migrating cell responds to intracellular or extracellular signals via molecular cascades that reorganize the actin cytoskeleton to establish this polarity. In these cells, the Rho family proteins Cdc42,...
3.2K
01:20Anatomy of the Eyeball
8.4K
The eye is a spherical, hollow structure composed of three tissue layers. The outer layer — the fibrous tunic, comprises the sclera — a white structure — and the cornea, which is transparent. The sclera encompasses some of the ocular surface, most of which is not visible. However, the 'white of the eye' is distinctively visible in humans compared to other species. The cornea, a clear covering at the front of the eye, enables light penetration. The eye's middle...
8.4K
01:14Rab Proteins
4.0K
Rab proteins constitute the largest family of monomeric GTPases, of which 70 members are present in humans. Rab proteins and their effectors regulate consecutive stages of vesicle transport such as vesicle transport, docking, and fusion to the correct recipient membrane.
Rab proteins switch between a cytosolic, GDP-bound inactive state and a membrane-anchored, GTP-bound active state. By themselves, Rabs show slow rates of GDP/GTP exchange and GTP hydrolysis. Thus, Rab proteins are considered...
Rab proteins switch between a cytosolic, GDP-bound inactive state and a membrane-anchored, GTP-bound active state. By themselves, Rabs show slow rates of GDP/GTP exchange and GTP hydrolysis. Thus, Rab proteins are considered...
4.0K
01:11Channel Rhodopsins
2.5K
Most organisms use photoreceptors to sense and respond to light. Examples of photoreceptors include bacteriorhodopsins and bacteriophytochromes in some bacteria, phytochromes in plants, and rhodopsins in the photoreceptor cells of the vertebral retina. The light-sensitive property of these receptors is because of the bound chromophores, such as bilin in the phytochromes and retinal in the rhodopsins.
Rhodopsins belong to the family of cell surface proteins called G-protein coupled receptors,...
Rhodopsins belong to the family of cell surface proteins called G-protein coupled receptors,...
2.5K