RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Human Cone Pigment Expressed in Transgenic Mice Yields Altered Vision
JF The Journal of Neuroscience
JO J. Neurosci.
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP 3258
OP 3265
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.19-08-03258.1999
VO 19
IS 8
A1 Jacobs, Gerald H.
A1 Fenwick, John C.
A1 Calderone, Jack B.
A1 Deeb, Samir S.
YR 1999
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/19/8/3258.abstract
AB Genetically driven alterations in the complement of retinal photopigments are fundamental steps in the evolution of vision. We sought to determine how a newly added photopigment might impact vision by studying a transgenic mouse that expresses a human cone photopigment. Electroretinogram (ERG) measurements indicate that the added pigment works well, significantly changing spectral sensitivity without deleteriously affecting the operation of the native cone pigments. Visual capacities of the transgenic mice were established in behavioral tests. The new pigment was found to provide a significant expansion of the spectral range over which mice can perceive light, thus underlining the immediate utility of acquiring a new photopigment. The transgenic mouse also has the receptor basis for a novel color vision capacity, but tests show that potential was not realized. This failure likely reflects limitations in the organizational arrangement of the mouse retina.