Researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have identified a light-sensing pigment that can be biochemically manipulated to reset itself, offering a new therapeutic opportunity for modified retinals that may help improve vision.
Investigators reportedly used a modified form of vitamin A — called locked retinal — to induce the recycling mechanism and engage proteins central to human vision. The targeted proteins include light-sensing rhodopsin, which belongs to a family of proteins called G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), that sit in cell membranes and transmit external cellular cues into internal cell signaling pathways.
According to researchers, their findings exemplify the possibility of reprogramming GPCRs into self-renewing machines that can be controlled by external cues, which could be helpful in treating patients with vision impairment and opens up new avenues for more efficient GPCR-based therapeutics.
The study was recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Source: Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine