Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 21 February 1997:
Vol. 275. no. 5303, pp. 1119 - 1121
DOI: 10.1126/science.275.5303.1119
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Calmodulin Regulation of Calcium Stores in Phototransduction of Drosophila

Assaf Arnon, Boaz Cook, Craig Montell, Zvi Selinger, Baruch Minke *

Phototransduction in Drosophila occurs through the ubiquitous phosphoinositide-mediated signal transduction system. Major unresolved questions in this pathway are the identity and role of the internal calcium stores in light excitation and the mechanism underlying regulation of Ca2+ release from internal stores. Treatment of Drosophila photoreceptors with ryanodine and caffeine disrupted the current induced by light, whereas subsequent application of calcium-calmodulin (Ca-CaM) rescued the inactivated photoresponse. In calcium-deprived wild-type Drosophila and in calmodulin-deficient transgenic flies, the current induced by light was disrupted by a specific inhibitor of Ca-CaM. Furthermore, inhibition of Ca-CaM revealed light-induced release of calcium from intracellular stores. It appears that functional ryanodine-sensitive stores are essential for the photoresponse. Moreover, calcium release from these stores appears to be a component of Drosophila phototransduction, and Ca-CaM regulates this process.

A. Arnon, B. Cook, B. Minke, Department of Physiology and the Kühne Minerva Center for Studies of Visual Transduction, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91120, Israel.
C. Montell, Department of Biological Chemistry and Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Z. Selinger, Department of Biological Chemistry and the Kühne Minerva Center for Studies of Visual Transduction, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed at Department of Physiology, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem 91120, Israel.

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Systems analysis of the single photon response in invertebrate photoreceptors.
A. Pumir, J. Graves, R. Ranganathan, and B. I. Shraiman (2008)
PNAS 105, 10354-10359
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
TRP Channel Proteins and Signal Transduction.
B. Minke and B. Cook (2002)
Physiol Rev 82, 429-472
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Timing of Ca2+ Release from Intracellular Stores and the Electrical Response of Limulus Ventral Photoreceptors to Dim Flashes.
R. Payne and J. Demas (2000)
J. Gen. Physiol. 115, 735-748
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Novel Mechanism of Massive Photoreceptor Degeneration Caused by Mutations in the trp Gene of Drosophila.
J. Yoon, H. C. Ben-Ami, Y. S. Hong, S. Park, L. L. R. Strong, J. Bowman, C. Geng, K. Baek, B. Minke, and W. L. Pak (2000)
J. Neurosci. 20, 649-659
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Sodium/Calcium Exchange: Its Physiological Implications.
M. P. Blaustein and W. J. Lederer (1999)
Physiol Rev 79, 763-854
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Retinal Targets for Calmodulin Include Proteins Implicated in Synaptic Transmission.
X.-Z. S. Xu, P. D. Wes, H. Chen, H.-S. Li, M. Yu, S. Morgan, Y. Liu, and C. Montell (1998)
J. Biol. Chem. 273, 31297-31307
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
A Ca2+/Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Modulates Drosophila Photoreceptor K+ Currents: A Role in Shaping the Photoreceptor Potential.
A. Peretz, I. Abitbol, A. Sobko, C.-F. Wu, and B. Attali (1998)
J. Neurosci. 18, 9153-9162
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Coordination of an Array of Signaling Proteins through Homo- and Heteromeric Interactions Between PDZ Domains and Target Proteins.
X.-Z. S. Xu, A. Choudhury, X. Li, and C. Montell (1998)
J. Cell Biol. 142, 545-555
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Courtship and Visual Defects of cacophony Mutants Reveal Functional Complexity of a Calcium-Channel {alpha}1 Subunit in Drosophila.
L. A. Smith, A. A. Peixoto, E. M. Kramer, A. Villella, and J. C. Hall (1998)
Genetics 149, 1407-1426
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Cytoplasmic calcium gradients and calmodulin in the early development of the fucoid alga Pelvetia compressa.
R Pu and K. Robinson (1998)
J. Cell Sci. 111, 3197-3207
   Abstract »    PDF »
Ca2+/calmodulin-binding peptides block phototransduction in Limulus ventral photoreceptors: Evidence for direct inhibition of phospholipase C.
E. A. Richard, S. Ghosh, J. M. Lowenstein, and J. E. Lisman (1997)
PNAS 94, 14095-14099
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
New Light on TRP and TRPL.
C. Montell (1997)
Mol. Pharmacol. 52, 755-763
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Calmodulin regulation of light adaptation and store-operated dark current in Drosophila photoreceptors.
A. Arnon, B. Cook, B. Gillo, C. Montell, Z. Selinger, and B. Minke (1997)
PNAS 94, 5894-5899
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The ryanodine receptor is essential for larval development in Drosophila melanogaster.
K. M. C. Sullivan, K. Scott, C. S. Zuker, and G. M. Rubin (2000)
PNAS 97, 5942-5947
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)