Elsevier

Methods in Enzymology

Volume 316, 2000, Pages 224-252
Methods in Enzymology

[14] Electrophysiological methods for measurement of activation of phototransduction by bleached visual pigment in salamander photoreceptors

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Publisher Summary

This chapter describes single-cell recording methods for the study of bleaching adaptation and the visual cycle in isolated amphibian rods and cones, and illustrates the physiological effects that bleached visual pigment and photopigment regeneration have on the state of receptor adaptation. Bleaching adaptation is defined as the physiological state of the retina (or more specifically, of retinal rods and cones) that is observed in darkness after exposure to bright light of sufficient intensity to photoactivate or bleach a substantial fraction of the visual pigment. The methods described in the chapter are used to gain important insights into the function of isolated rod and cone photoreceptors under controlled conditions of pigment bleaching and regeneration. However, it must be understood that in the intact retina, these are dynamic processes that interact continuously. Bleach-desensitized photoreceptors do not normally exist in the retina, except possibly in pathological conditions.

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