Neurobiology
Retinal degeneration-3 protein attenuates photoreceptor degeneration in transgenic mice expressing dominant mutation of human retinal guanylyl cyclase
Different forms of photoreceptor degeneration cause blindness. Retinal degeneration-3 protein (RD3) deficiency in photoreceptors leads to recessive congenital blindness. We proposed that aberrant activation of the retinal membrane guanylyl cyclase (RetGC) by its calcium-sensor proteins (guanylyl cyclase–activating protein [GCAP]) causes this retinal degeneration and that RD3 protects photoreceptors by preventing such activation. We here present in vivo evidence that RD3 protects photoreceptors by suppressing activation of both RetGC1 and RetGC2 isozymes.Retinal degeneration-3 protein promotes photoreceptor survival by suppressing activation of guanylyl cyclase rather than accelerating GMP recycling
Retinal degeneration-3 protein (RD3) deficiency causes photoreceptor dysfunction and rapid degeneration in the rd3 mouse strain and in human Leber’s congenital amaurosis, a congenital retinal dystrophy that results in early vision loss. However, the mechanisms responsible for photoreceptor death remain unclear. Here, we tested two hypothesized biochemical events that may underlie photoreceptor death: (i) the failure to prevent aberrant activation of retinal guanylyl cyclase (RetGC) by calcium-sensor proteins (GCAPs) versus (ii) the reduction of GMP phosphorylation rate, preventing its recycling to GDP/GTP.Two clusters of surface-exposed amino acid residues enable high-affinity binding of retinal degeneration-3 (RD3) protein to retinal guanylyl cyclase
Retinal degeneration-3 (RD3) protein protects photoreceptors from degeneration by preventing retinal guanylyl cyclase (RetGC) activation via calcium-sensing guanylyl cyclase–activating proteins (GCAP), and RD3 truncation causes severe congenital blindness in humans and other animals. The three-dimensional structure of RD3 has recently been established, but the molecular mechanisms of its inhibitory binding to RetGC remain unclear. Here, we report the results of probing 133 surface-exposed residues in RD3 by single substitutions and deletions to identify side chains that are critical for the inhibitory binding of RD3 to RetGC.Retinal guanylyl cyclase activation by calcium sensor proteins mediates photoreceptor degeneration in an rd3 mouse model of congenital human blindness
Deficiency of RD3 (retinal degeneration 3) protein causes recessive blindness and photoreceptor degeneration in humans and in the rd3 mouse strain, but the disease mechanism is unclear. Here, we present evidence that RD3 protects photoreceptors from degeneration by competing with guanylyl cyclase-activating proteins (GCAPs), which are calcium sensor proteins for retinal membrane guanylyl cyclase (RetGC). RetGC activity in rd3/rd3 retinas was drastically reduced but stimulated by the endogenous GCAPs at low Ca2+ concentrations.A G86R mutation in the calcium-sensor protein GCAP1 alters regulation of retinal guanylyl cyclase and causes dominant cone-rod degeneration
The guanylyl cyclase-activating protein, GCAP1, activates photoreceptor membrane guanylyl cyclase (RetGC) in the light, when free Ca2+ concentrations decline, and decelerates the cyclase in the dark, when Ca2+ concentrations rise. Here, we report a novel mutation, G86R, in the GCAP1 (GUCA1A) gene in a family with a dominant retinopathy. The G86R substitution in a “hinge” region connecting EF-hand domains 2 and 3 in GCAP1 strongly interfered with its Ca2+-dependent activator-to-inhibitor conformational transition.
