ANTI-OPSIN

Mouse monoclonal clone RET-P1 anti-Opsin antibody is used to tag opsin/rhodopsin for detection and quantitation by immunocytochemical and immunohistochemical (IHC) techniques such as immunoblotting, immunocytochemistry of cultured cells, immunohistochemistry (paraformaldehyde/glutaraldehyde-fixed, paraformaldehyde perfusion-fixed, frozen sections), immunoelectron microscopy, ELISA, competitive ELISA, and solid phase RIA. It is used as a probe to determine the presence and roles of opsin/rhodopsin in studies of rhodopsin location, functional properties and molecular mechanisms governing rod photoreceptor differentiation.

Vision involves the conversion of light into electrochemical signals that are processed by the retina and subsequently sent to and interpreted by the brain. The process of converting light to an electrochemical signal begins when the membrane-bound protein, rhodopsin, absorbs light within the retina. Photoexcitation of rhodopsin causes the cytoplasmic surface of the protein to become catalytically active. In the active state, rhodopsin activates transducin, a GTP binding protein. Once activated, transducin promotes the hydrolysis of cGMP by phosphodiesterase (PDE). The decrease of intracellular cGMP concentrations causes the ion channels within the outer segment of the rod or cone to close, thus causing membrane hyperpolarization and, eventually, signal transmission. Rhodopsin′s activity is believed to be shut off by its phosphorylation followed by binding of the soluble protein arrestin.

Mutations in rhodopsin gene are linked to retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and congenital night blindness.