Fejér Z, Szél A, Röhlich P, Görcs T, Manzano e Silva M J, Vígh B
Department of Human Morphology and Developmental Biology, Semmelweis University of Medicine, Budapest, Hungary.
Acta Biol Hung. 1997;48(4):463-71.
Pinopsin is a pineal specific opsin newly identified in the pineal of birds which has an absorption maximum at 470 nm. As the opsin content of photoreceptors in the pineal complex of several species is not yet known, in the present work, we studied their pinopsin immunoreactivity in various vertebrates from cyclostomes to mammals. We also compared the immunoreactivity of pineal photoreceptors to that of retinal cones and rods of each animal. For the immunocytochemistry, we raised antibodies in rabbits against a 14 amino acids containing part of the chicken pinopsin molecule. The immunoreaction was performed at the electron microscopic level. The pineal organs show a great diversity in vertebrates: there is a pineal organ present from cyclostomes to mammals, in addition, there is a parapineal organ in cyclostomes and fishes, a frontal organ in frogs and a parietal eye in several reptiles. We detected a strong pinopsin immunoreaction on most of the pinealocytes of birds and on the large photoreceptor-type of the pineal of reptiles. Rod-type photoreceptors of the avian retina and a cone of the reptile retina was immunoreactive as well. According to the known absorption maximum of pinopsin, the immunoreactivity may indicate a green-blue light-sensitivity for these photoreceptors. The immunoreactivity was less pronounced or absent in mammals as well as in less differentiated species. The pineal organ of snakes and the parietal eye of reptiles equally failed to exhibit pinopsin immunoreactive photoreceptors, presumably, due to the absence of green-blue light-sensitive photoreceptors of pinopsin-type in these species.
视锥蛋白是一种在鸟类松果体中新发现的特异性视蛋白，其最大吸收波长为470纳米。由于几种物种松果体复合体中光感受器的视蛋白含量尚不清楚，在本研究中，我们研究了从圆口纲动物到哺乳动物等各种脊椎动物的松果体中视锥蛋白的免疫反应性。我们还比较了每种动物松果体光感受器与视网膜视锥细胞和视杆细胞的免疫反应性。对于免疫细胞化学，我们用含有鸡视锥蛋白分子一部分的14个氨基酸片段在兔子体内制备抗体。免疫反应在电子显微镜水平上进行。脊椎动物的松果体器官具有很大的多样性：从圆口纲动物到哺乳动物都存在松果体器官，此外，圆口纲动物和鱼类中有副松果体器官，青蛙中有额器官，几种爬行动物中有顶眼。我们在鸟类的大多数松果体细胞以及爬行动物松果体的大型光感受器类型上检测到强烈的视锥蛋白免疫反应。鸟类视网膜的视杆型光感受器和爬行动物视网膜的一个视锥细胞也具有免疫反应性。根据已知的视锥蛋白最大吸收波长，这种免疫反应性可能表明这些光感受器对绿蓝光敏感。在哺乳动物以及分化程度较低的物种中，免疫反应性较弱或不存在。蛇的松果体器官和爬行动物的顶眼同样未表现出视锥蛋白免疫反应性光感受器，推测是由于这些物种中缺乏视锥蛋白类型的绿蓝光敏感光感受器。
