Retinoid receptors detection

The appropriate selection of the antigen determines the usefulness of the antibodies in the molecular techniques to which they will be applied. For example, to examine a receptor in vivo, a region of the molecule that is likely to be exposed in the three-dimensional or nondenatured state would serve best as a candidate for the antigen. For techniques that detect the denatured form of the protein, such as Western analysis, the epitope location may not be an issue Thus, not all antibodies are applicable for all techniques. Because of the conservation of sequence between the retinoid receptors, it may be necessary to select a unique sequence of the molecule to ensure specificity of the reagent. In... 

Nonisotopic In Situ Hybridization for the Detection of Nuciear Retinoid Receptor Transcripts in Tissue Sections... 

The retinal pool of 11 -cis-retinal is clearly critical for photon detection and visual signal transduction. There are two key aspects regarding this that are important to consider the precursor(s) from which 11 -cis-retinal derived, and, bioconversion of isomerized trans-retinal back to 11-cis-retinal that can recombine with opsin to re-form rhodopsin. The latter aspect is obligatory for restoration of the dark state, regenerating a photosensitive receptor capable of undergoing another cycle of photon detection and signal transduction. Considered together, these events represent the retinoid cycle in the visual process (22). The entire process of re-isomerization and formation of a new rhodopsin molecule occurs in two different retinal tissues and involves several enzymatic steps that are described below (see Fig. 7.14). 

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