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Friday, August 20, 2004
Zinc Plays Role In Some Forms of RP
Several RP-causing genetic mutations have been found to affect the way that the trace metal zinc binds with rhodopsin, a protein needed for normal visual function.
The research, undertaken at the Dartmouth Medical Center in New Hampshire, USA, was published today in The Journal of Biological Chemistry. The journal features the article as one of its Papers of the Week ('Seeing Zinc', 20 August 2004, Vol. 279 Issue 34).
"We have found if there is not enough zinc in the body or there is a mutation in the zinc binding site, the protein rhodopsin will misfold and break down, triggering cell death, degeneration of the retina and eventually blindness," said John Hwa, MD, PhD, assistant professor of pharmacology and toxicology at Dartmouth Medical School.
'New Clues to Hereditary Blinding Disease Found' (Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center media release, 18 August 2004).
The research, undertaken at the Dartmouth Medical Center in New Hampshire, USA, was published today in The Journal of Biological Chemistry. The journal features the article as one of its Papers of the Week ('Seeing Zinc', 20 August 2004, Vol. 279 Issue 34).
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