The Mechanism of Rhodopsin and RPE65 Protein in Light-induced Retina Degeneration

Light absorption by the visual pigment rhodopsin is required to initiate the phototransduction cascade.Absorption of excessive amount of light,however,may eventually lead to photoreceptor degeneretion by an apoptotic process.In some sense,light damage depends on the amount of rhodopsin available for bleaching during light exposure.The protein RPE65 is specifically expressed in the retinal pigment epithelium and essential for the re-isomerization of all-trans retinol in the visual cycle and thus for the regeneration of rhodopsin after bleaching.This article reviews the role of rhodopsin and RPE65 protein in retina light injury and other related retinitis pigmentosa degeneration disease.