PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Watanabe, S
AU  - Matthews, G
TI  - Regional distribution of cGMP-activated ion channels in the plasma membrane of the rod photoreceptor
AID  - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.08-07-02334.1988
DP  - 1988 Jul 01
TA  - The Journal of Neuroscience
PG  - 2334--2337
VI  - 8
IP  - 7
4099  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/8/7/2334.short
4100  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/8/7/2334.full
SO  - J. Neurosci.1988 Jul 01; 8
AB  - In patch-clamp recordings from excised membrane patches, the distribution of cGMP-activated channels in the plasma membrane of the rod photoreceptor was examined. These channels have been shown to be the light-sensitive channels that carry the inward dark current in the rod outer segment, where phototransduction occurs (Matthews, 1987); thus, they are centrally involved in photoreceptor transduction. In the outer segment, cGMP-activated channels were present at high density. In the inner segment, cGMP-activated channels were also present, but their density was much lower than in the outer segment. Calcium-activated potassium channels had the opposite distribution, with a higher density in the inner segment. The results suggest that there is a barrier preventing the unrestricted spread of membrane proteins between the inner and outer segments.