THE EFFECTS OF ZINC DURING VISUAL ADAPTATION OF VERTEBRATE EYE

  • Kim, Hyun-Jung (Department of Biochemistry, College of Natural Sciences, Kyungpook National University)
  • Published : 1995.06.01

Abstract

Zinc plays a key role in genetic expression, cell division, and growth and is essential for the function of more than 200 enzymes; effects of zinc deficiency induce many syndromes, including abnormal visual adaptation. The pigment epithelium (EP) contains high concentrations of zinc in humans and in animals and it participates in threshold elevation, visual sensitivity increment, and acceleration of rhodopsin regeration during visual adaptation. The origin of c-wave of electroretinogram(ERG) is not only pigment epithelium as shown in present research, but also other cell layers, perhaps the photoreceptors. We propose zinc as a candidate for an internal messenger which participates in signal amplification.

Keywords

References

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