Molecular Biology Commons^™

Dopamine Regulation Of Cone-Cone Gap Junctions In Ground Squirrel Retina, Xiaoyu Li '12, Steven Devries

Student Publications & Research

Cone photoreceptors are electrically coupled such that when the electrical potential in one cell changes, it also changes in adjacent, coupled cells. Phosphorylation of the cone gap junction protein, connexin 36 (Cx36), determines whether a coupling channel is “open” or “closed”. Cx36- containing gap junctions are phosphorylated in the open state and dephosphorylated in the closed state. Cone-cone gap junction modulation has not been extensively studied, however, the presence of rod-cone gap junction modulation raises the possibility that the same is true for cone pairs. Pieces of thirteen-lined ground squirrel retina were removed from the eye and the tissue was …