Disease relevance of LOC396520

• Visinin protein expressed in E. coli exhibited Ca2+ binding activity [1].
• Based on the results of this study, we conclude that visinin is not defective in the rd chick model of hereditary retinal degeneration [2].

High impact information on LOC396520

• Visinin: a novel calcium binding protein expressed in retinal cone cells [1].
• Visinin mRNA was expressed only in the retinal photoreceptor layer [1].
• The nucleotide sequence of the cDNA revealed that visinin has three E-F hand structures and is a Ca2+ binding protein [1].
• To investigate its function, visinin cDNA was isolated from a chick retinal lambda gt11 cDNA library, using anti-visinin serum [1].
• Partial amino acid sequence analysis revealed a 60% homology to visinin from chicken cones [3].

Biological context of LOC396520

• The amino acid sequence reveals two Ca2+ binding sites, no internal repeats, 59% homology to the chicken visinin protein and 40% homology to calmodulin while Northern analysis demonstrated a single 1.0 kb mRNA species in bovine and mouse retina [4].
• Cell survival and structural differentiation appeared normal, but one of the immunocytochemical markers studied (visinin) was less frequently observed in GP-treated cultures [5].

Anatomical context of LOC396520

• The distribution of visinin, a 24,000 dalton peptide, in the lower brain stem of the rat was examined by means of an indirect immunofluorescent method [6].
• The present study is an examination, using an indirect immunofluorescence method, of the distribution of visinin, a 24,000 dalton peptide, in the rat forebrain and diencephalon [7].
• These cells also express visinin, a gene expressed early during cone photoreceptor differentiation [8].

Associations of LOC396520 with chemical compounds

• Antibodies against visinin and GABA were used to distinguish photoreceptors from nonphotoreceptor cells, and monoclonal antibodies rhodopsin (rho) 4D2, OS-2, and COS-1 were used to distinguish subpopulations of cones and rods [9].

Regulatory relationships of LOC396520

• NeuroD induces the expression of visinin and calretinin by proliferating cells derived from toxin-damaged chicken retina [10].

Other interactions of LOC396520

• VILIP, a cognate protein of the retinal calcium binding proteins visinin and recoverin, is expressed in the developing chicken brain [11].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of LOC396520

• Hybridization of a northern blot of +/+, +/rd and rd/rd poly(A)+ RNA with a random-primer labelled visinin cDNA probe showed a single, equally labelled 1-Kbp band in each of the samples [2].
• A 22kDa band, corresponding to purified visinin, was stained with equal intensity on Western blots of +/+, +/rd and rd/rd retinal protein probed with a visinin polyclonal antibody [2].
• Conversely, Chx10 and Pax6 expression diminished the photoreceptor population to approximately 35% and 15% of control values, as determined by morphologic analysis, visinin immunocytochemistry, and peanut lectin binding [12].
• In semi-quantitative, dot-immunoblotting analysis, the amount of visinin in the pineal organs of chicks kept under continuous light for 3 days was 4-8 fold more abundant than that under continuous darkness for the same duration [13].

References