Isoforms of Melanopsin Mediate Different Behavioral Responses to Light

Current Biology : CB
Aarti JagannathStuart Peirson

Abstract

Melanopsin (OPN4) is a retinal photopigment that mediates a wide range of non-image-forming (NIF) responses to light including circadian entrainment, sleep induction, the pupillary light response (PLR), and negative masking of locomotor behavior (the acute suppression of activity in response to light). How these diverse NIF responses can all be mediated by a single photopigment has remained a mystery. We reasoned that the alternative splicing of melanopsin could provide the basis for functionally distinct photopigments arising from a single gene. The murine melanopsin gene is indeed alternatively spliced, producing two distinct isoforms, a short (OPN4S) and a long (OPN4L) isoform, which differ only in their C terminus tails. Significantly, both isoforms form fully functional photopigments. Here, we show that different isoforms of OPN4 mediate different behavioral responses to light. By using RNAi-mediated silencing of each isoform in vivo, we demonstrated that the short isoform (OPN4S) mediates light-induced pupillary constriction, the long isoform (OPN4L) regulates negative masking, and both isoforms contribute to phase-shifting circadian rhythms of locomotor behavior and light-mediated sleep induction. These findings demonstr...Continue Reading

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Citations

Feb 7, 2016·Progress in Retinal and Eye Research·Nazhat Shirzad-Wasei, Willem J DeGrip
Apr 25, 2016·Pflügers Archiv : European journal of physiology·Marco Preußner, Florian Heyd
Feb 10, 2018·Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews. RNA·Manon TorresAnne-Marie François-Bellan
Aug 6, 2017·Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology·Carla B Green
Aug 14, 2018·Photochemistry and Photobiology·Anna Stachurska, Tadeusz Sarna
Jul 28, 2020·Biology·Russell G FosterStuart N Peirson
Apr 20, 2017·Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience·Gema EsquivaNicolás Cuenca
Jan 28, 2021·Genes·Michael James GilhooleyPatrick Yu Wai Man
Mar 27, 2021·Journal of Biological Rhythms·Brian A UptonRichard A Lang
Nov 30, 2021·The Journal of Experimental Biology·Ely ContrerasTiffany M Schmidt

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