Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology
Volume 2008 (2008), Article ID 327468, 7 pages
doi:10.1155/2008/327468
Research Article

Characterization of Phototransduction Gene Knockouts Revealed Important Signaling Networks in the Light-Induced Retinal Degeneration

Jayalakshmi Krishnan,1 Gwang Lee,1,2 Sang-Uk Han,1,3 and Sangdun Choi1,4

1Department of Molecular Science and Technology, College of Natural Sciences, Ajou University, Suwon 443-749, South Korea
2Brain Disease Research Center, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon 443-749, South Korea
3Department of Surgery, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon 443-749, South Korea
4Department of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Science, Ajou University, Suwon 443-749, South Korea

Received 24 August 2007; Accepted 17 December 2007

Academic Editor: Daniel Howard

Copyright © 2008 Jayalakshmi Krishnan et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Understanding the molecular pathways mediating neuronal function in retinas can be greatly facilitated by the identification of genes regulated in the retinas of different mutants under various light conditions. We attempted to conduct a gene chip analysis study on the genes regulated during rhodopsin kinase (Rhok-/-) and arrestin (Sag-/-) knockout and double knockouts in mice retina. Hence, mice were exposed to constant illumination of 450 lux or 6,000 lux on dilated pupils for indicated periods. The retinas were removed after the exposure and processed for microarray analysis. Double knockout was associated with immense changes in gene expression regulating a number of apoptosis inducing transcription factors. Subsequently, network analysis revealed that during early exposure the transcription factors, p53, c-MYC, c-FOS, JUN, and, in late phase, NF-B, appeared to be essential for the initiation of light-induced retinal rod loss, and some other classical pro- and antipoptotic genes appeared to be significantly important as well.