A key role for cyclic nucleotide gated (CNG) channels in cGMP-related retinitis pigmentosa.
The rd1 natural mutant is one of the first and probably the most commonly studied mouse model for retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a severe and frequently blinding human retinal degeneration. In several decades of research, the link between the increase in photoreceptor cGMP levels and the extremely rapid cell death gave rise to a number of hypotheses. Here, we provide clear evidence that the presence of cyclic nucleotide gated (CNG) channels in the outer segment membrane is the key to rod photoreceptor loss. In Cngb1(-/-) x rd1 double mutants devoid of regular CNG channels, cGMP levels are still pathologically high, but rod photoreceptor viability and outer segment morphology are greatly improve…
Peripherin-2 couples rhodopsin to the CNG channel in outer segments of rod photoreceptors.
Outer segments (OS) of rod photoreceptors are cellular compartments specialized in the conversion of light into electrical signals. This process relies on the light-triggered change in the intracellular levels of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), which in turn controls the activity of cyclic nucleotide-gated (CNG) channels in the rod OS plasma membrane. The rod CNG channel is a macromolecular complex that in its core harbors the ion-conducting CNGA1 and CNGB1a subunits. To identify additional proteins of the complex that interact with the CNGB1a core subunit we applied affinity purification of mouse retinal proteins followed by mass spectrometry. In combination with in vitro and in viv…