Naturally occurring rhodopsin mutation in the dog causes retinal dysfunction and degeneration mimicking human dominant retinitis pigmentosa

Abstract

Rhodopsin is the G protein-coupled receptor that is activated by light and initiates the transduction cascade leading to night (rod) vision. Naturally occurring pathogenic rhodopsin (RHO) mutations have been previously identified only in humans and are a common cause of dominantly inherited blindness from retinal degeneration. We identified English Mastiff dogs with a naturally occurring dominant retinal degeneration and determined the cause to be a point mutation in the RHO gene (Thr4Arg). Dogs with this mutant allele manifest a retinal phenotype that closely mimics that in humans with RHO mutations. The phenotypic features shared by dog and man include a dramatically slowed time course of ..