A deep brain photoreceptive molecule in the toad hypothalamus
FEBS LettersPublished 6 March 1998Open access
T. Yoshikawa, Toshiyuki Okano, Tadashi Oishi, Yoshitaka Fukada
Citations50
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score1.22
SNIP0.77
Generate an AI Snapshot to get a quick, structured summary of this paper.
Study Snapshot
ObjectiveStudy objective
MethodsResearch methodology
PopulationPopulation studied
Sample sizeSample sizes
OutcomesStudy outcomes here
ResultsStudy results comes here
LimitationsResearch study limitations comes here
A concise AI-generated summary of the paper will appear here once you click Generate AI Snapshot.
TL;DR
A cDNA clone encoding a deep brain photoreceptive molecule from the hypothalamic cDNA library of the toad, Bufo japonicus, showed the highest similarity to that of pinopsin among vertebrate retinal opsins, indicating the expression of toadPinopsin in the deep brain.
Abstract
We have isolated a cDNA clone encoding a deep brain photoreceptive molecule from the hypothalamic cDNA library of the toad, Bufo japonicus. The deduced amino acid sequence showed the highest similarity to that of pinopsin (75-76%) among vertebrate retinal opsins, indicating the expression of toad pinopsin in the deep brain. Antibodies raised against the C-terminal tail of toad pinopsin stained cell bodies and the knob-like structures of the cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons in the anterior preoptic nucleus. This region is known to play an important role in breeding behavior, suggesting that toad pinopsin acts as a photosensor for the photoperiodic gonadal response.
Keywords
NeuroscienceBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
Molecular Biology and EvolutionThe neighbor-joining method: a new method for reconstructing phylogenetic trees.
60,481 Citations1987Naruya Saitou, M Nei
The neighbor-joining method and Sattath and Tversky's method are shown to be generally better than the other methods for reconstructing phylogenetic trees from evolutionary distance data.
NaturePinopsin is a chicken pineal photoreceptive molecule
352 Citations1994Toshiyuki Okano, Toru Yoshizawa +1 more
Cloned chicken pineal cDNA encoding the photoreceptive molecule is cloned and it is confirmed that it is a pineal photosensor and named pinopsin, indicating a similarity between retinal rod cells and pinealocytes in the phototransduction pathway.
Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesPrimary structures of chicken cone visual pigments: vertebrate rhodopsins have evolved out of cone visual pigments.
344 Citations1992Toshiyuki Okano, Daisuke Kojima +3 more
It is suggested that the gene for scotopic vision (rhodopsin) has evolved out of that for photopic sight (cone pigments) and that group Rh including vertebrate rhodopsins diverged from group M2 later.
Cell and Tissue ResearchCoexpression of opsin- and VIP-like-immunoreactivity in CSF-contacting neurons of the avian brain
220 Citations1988Rae Silver, Paul Witkovsky +4 more
Cerebrospinal fluid-contacting CSF cells in both the septal and the tuberal areas in the brain of the ring dove are labeled by RET-P1, a monoclonal antibody to opsin that reacts with inner and outer segment membranes of rod photoreceptors in a variety of vertebrates.
International review of cytologyComparative Ultrastructure of the Cerebrospinal Fluid-Contacting Neurons
192 Citations1973B. Vign, I. Vign-Teichmann
NatureRhodopsin-like sensitivity of extra-retinal photoreceptors mediating the photoperiodic response in quail
164 Citations1985F. Foster, B. K. Follett +1 more
A technique which produces a quantitative action spectrum for the photoperiodic response in the Japanese quail is developed and results indicate the presence of a rhodopsin photopigment with a peak sensitivity of ∼492 nm, concluding that the brain photoreceptors of birds are based on a r Rhodopsin/rhodopsIn-like photopIGment.
Journal of NeuroscienceParapinopsin, a Novel Catfish Opsin Localized to the Parapineal Organ, Defines a New Gene Family
160 Citations1997Seth Blackshaw, Solomon H. Snyder
No expression of retinal opsins in pineal and parapineal organ and no expression of any opsin tested in the “deep brain,” iris, or dermal melanophores imply that phototransduction in these sites of extraretinal photoreception must be mediated by novel opsins.
FEBS LettersA novel and ancient vertebrate opsin
157 Citations1997Bobby G. Soni, F. Foster
The identification of VA opsin may ultimately help to resolve some of the uncharacterised photoreceptor functions of the eye, which include the regulation of circadian rhythms, pupil size and corneal pigmentation.
Journal of Comparative Physiology ASpectral characteristics of visible radiation penetrating into the brain and stimulating extraretinal photoreceptors
137 Citations1979H. Hartwig, T. Van Veen
The high light sensitivity of deep diencephalic photoreceptors involved in the control of photoneuroendocrine events characteristic of some non-mammalian vertebrates suggests the occurrence of photopigment-containing receptors and nerve cells summating the input of several photoreceptorors.
Journal of Comparative Physiology AOpsin localization and chromophore retinoids identified within the basal brain of the lizard Anolis carolinensis
112 Citations1993F. Foster, José M. García‐Fernández +2 more
Anolis provides an excellent model to study this unexplored sensory system of the vertebrates and is felt to provide the most detailed analysis of deep brain photoreceptors in any vertebrate.
Hormones and BehaviorRelation of mode of administration of testosterone to evocation of male sex behavior in frogs
98 Citations1977Masaru Wada, Aubrey Gorbman
The rostral part of the preoptic nucleus is the androgen-sensitive site which governs sexual behavior in Rana pipiens and the relative ineffectiveness of systemic injection of testosterone is discussed.
PubMedEffects of photoperiod and temperature on testicular function in amphibians.
57 Citations1990Ricardo Paniagua, Benito Fraile +1 more
Exposure to mild temperatures stimulates spermatogenesis even during the period of testicular quiescence, and photoperiod appears to have no effect on spermiogenesis, because once round sperMatids are formed, sperMIogenesis will occur even in total darkness.
Hormones and BehaviorMate calling induced by electrical stimulation in freely moving leopard frogs, Rana pipiens
51 Citations1977Masaru Wada, Aubrey Gorbman
Electrodes were implanted chronically into the preoptic areas of normal or castrated male frogs, Rana pipiens, and monopolar monophasic stimulating currents and there was no difference in the threshold to induce calls between pituitary-treated intact and castrated frogs.
Neuroscience LettersThe volume of the toad medial amygdala-anterior preoptic complex is sexually dimorphic and seasonally variable
45 Citations1984Shigeru Takami, Akihisa Urano
The results suggest that the Am-APON complex has an important role in male sexual behavior, and this complex can be activated during the breeding season in the spring.
Tissue and CellVisual pigments in the pineal complex of the Japanese quail, Japanese grass lizard and bullfrog: Immunocytochemistry and HPLC analysis
42 Citations1994Hiroko Masuda, Tadashi Oishi +5 more
PubMedImmunoreactivities to Rhodopsin and Rod/Cone Transducin Antisera in the Retina, Pineal Complex and Deep Brain of the Bullfrog, Rana catesbeiana
37 Citations1994T. Yoshikawa, Yumi Yashiro +3 more
Western blot analysis of the hypothalamus, pineal and frontal organ demonstrated immunoreactive bands molecular weight of which corresponded to those of the retina, which means visual pigments and transducin-like proteins seem to exist in the hypothalamic as well as the pineal complex of frogs.
Biodiversity Heritage Library (Smithsonian Institution)Effects of Wavelengths of Light on the Photoperiodic Gonadal Response of Blinded-Pinealectomized Japanese Quail
27 Citations1993Tadashi Oishi, Kiyono Ohashi
Since the light pulse delivered at the photoinducible phase was effective to induce gonadal growth in blinded-pinealectomized quail, the circadian oscillator as well as the photoreceptor for the photoperiodic time measurement seems to be located somewhere other than the eye and the pineal.
Experimental Brain ResearchElectrophysiological evidence for white light sensitivity of the encephalon in eyeless and pinealectomized frogs
15 Citations1980Josette Cadusseau, G Galand
After removal of the lateral eyes and the whole pineal complex, electrophysiological responses to photic stimuli where still recorded from the diencephalon and mesencephalon of frogs.