PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Rao, Anjali
AU  - Dallman, Rebecca
AU  - Henderson, Scott
AU  - Chen, Ching-Kang
TI  - Gβ5 Is Required for Normal Light Responses and Morphology of Retinal ON-Bipolar Cells
AID  - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4934-07.2007
DP  - 2007 Dec 19
TA  - The Journal of Neuroscience
PG  - 14199--14204
VI  - 27
IP  - 51
4099  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/27/51/14199.short
4100  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/27/51/14199.full
SO  - J. Neurosci.2007 Dec 19; 27
AB  - Gβ5 exists as two splice variants, Gβ5-S and Gβ5-L, which interact with and stabilize the R7 members of the regulators of G-protein signaling (RGSs): RGS6, RGS7, RGS9, and RGS11. Although the role of Gβ5-L and RGS9-1 is established in photoreceptors, the physiological functions of Gβ5-S and other R7 RGS proteins remain unclear. We found that the electroretinogram of Gβ5−/− mice lacks the b-wave component and that Gβ5-S and RGS11 colocalize with Goα at the tips of the ON-bipolar cell dendrites. Unexpectedly, we found a significant reduction in the number of synaptic triads in the outer plexiform layer (OPL) of the Gβ5−/− mice, which is evident at postnatal day 14. Transgenic expression of Gβ5-L in rods failed to rescue the b-wave or the OPL defects. These results indicate that Gβ5-S is indispensable for OPL integrity and normal light responses of the retina.