Title: Melanopsin Signaling in the Eye

Speaker: King-Wai Yau, Ph.D.

（美国科学院院士、约翰霍普金斯大学医学院神经科学系教授）

Date: 14:30, October 22nd ( Monday ), 2012.

Venue: Meeting Room 101, New Research Building, Peking University.

King-Wai Yau教授，1975年在哈佛大学获博士学位，1975-1986年先后在斯坦福大学、剑桥大学、UTMB Galveston工作。1986年至今任约翰霍普金斯大学神经科学系教授。主要从事视觉和嗅觉机制研究，150余篇论文中有38篇发表在Nature、Science和Cell。曾获多种学术奖项。2010年当选美国科学院院士。

Rods and cones not only absorb light for initiating image vision, but also contribute to non-image vision, including circadian photoentrainment, pupillary light reflex, etc. A recent surprising discovery is that ganglion cells, which convey rod/cone signals to the brain, are themselves photosensitive by expressing a visual pigment, melanopsin. These cells, similar to rods, have high signaling efficiency capable of single-photon detection. However, they have an extremely low pigment density (compared to rods and cones). We are studying the phototransduction mechanism in these fascinating, newly-discovered photoreceptors, which does not appear to involve cGMP as in rods and cones.

Contact information: Shiqiang Wang（Tel：62755002）

Welcome to attend the seminar!