Henry K.W. Fong

TL;DR: Cloning of a complementary DNA for Gz alpha, a newly appreciated member of the family of guanine nucleotide-binding regulatory proteins, has allowed preparation of specific antisera to identify the protein in tissues and to assay it during purification from bovine brain, suggesting that Gz may play a role in signal transduction pathways that are mechanistically distinct from those controlled by the other members of the G protein family.

TL;DR: Evidence is provided that early intervention by 9-cis-retinal administration significantly attenuated retinal ester accumulation and supported rod retinal function for more than 6 months post-treatment, showing that pharmacological intervention produces long lasting preservation of visual function in dark-reared Rpe65−/− mice and may be a useful therapeutic strategy in recovering vision in humans diagnosed with Leber congenital amaurosis.

TL;DR: RGR is involved in the formation of 11-cis-retinal in mice and functions in a light-dependent pathway of the rod visual cycle and Mutations in the human gene encoding RGR are associated with retinitis pigmentosa.

TL;DR: Two distinct beta subunits of guanine nucleotide-binding regulatory proteins have been identified by cDNA cloning and are referred to as beta 1 and beta 2 subunits, which suggest that the two beta subunit have different roles in the signal transduction process.

TL;DR: Evidence is provided that RGR is bound in vivo primarily to all-trans-retinal and is capable of operating as a stereospecific photoisomerase that generates 11-cis- retinal in the pigment epithelium.