LIGHT-TRIGGERED ROD DISK SHEDDING IN XENOPUS RETINA INVITRO

  • 1 January 1979
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 18  (6) , 638-642
Abstract
Whether light-induced rod outer segment disc shedding occurs when the eye is isolated from the rest of the organism was determined. Whole eye explants of X. laevis were maintained in vitro and either exposed to 5 min of light or kept in darkness. In the in vitro eyes and in vivo controls exposed to the same conditions, a significant degree of disc shedding occurred within 1 h of the light stimulus. The disc shedding response was larger in the explanted eyes than in the intact animals. In explants exposed to [3H]leucine for 24 h, a radioactive band formed at the base of rod outer segments. Both light-stimulated disc shedding and disc synthesis occur in the eye kept in vitro. The results are compatible with other recently reported results suggesting that rod disc shedding is initiated within the eye.

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