RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 The Light Response of ON Bipolar Neurons Requires Gαo JF The Journal of Neuroscience JO J. Neurosci. FD Society for Neuroscience SP 9053 OP 9058 DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.20-24-09053.2000 VO 20 IS 24 A1 Anuradha Dhingra A1 Arkady Lyubarsky A1 Meisheng Jiang A1 Edward N. Pugh, Jr A1 Lutz Birnbaumer A1 Peter Sterling A1 Noga Vardi YR 2000 UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/20/24/9053.abstract AB ON bipolar neurons in retina detect the glutamate released by rods and cones via metabotropic glutamate receptor 6 (mGluR6), whose cascade is unknown. The trimeric G-protein Go might mediate this cascade because it colocalizes with mGluR6. To test this, we studied the retina in mice negative for the α subunit of Go (Gαo−/−). Retinal layering, key cell types, synaptic structure, and mGluR6 expression were all normal, as was the a-wave of the electroretinogram, which represents the rod and cone photocurrents. However, the b-wave of the electroretinogram, both rod- and cone-driven components, was entirely missing. Because the b-wave represents the massed response of ON bipolar cells, its loss in the Gαo null mouse establishes that the light response of the ON bipolar cell requires Go. This represents the first function to be defined in vivo for the α subunit of the most abundant G-protein of the brain .