Synthetic Compounds to Probe Molecular Events in Vision
{'Code': '08090200', 'Directorate': {'Abbreviation': 'BIO', 'LongName': 'Direct For Biological Sciences'}, 'Division': {'Abbreviation': 'IOS', 'LongName': 'Division Of Integrative Organismal Systems'}}
{'SignBlockName': 'Christopher Platt', 'PO_EMAI': None, 'PO_PHON': None}
This project is an interdisciplinary investigation of                        mechanisms by which a light stimulus is transformed into neural                 activity in the cells of the retina.  In brief, what is known is                that light is absorbed by the pigment, rhodopsin, which is then                 said to be in the photoactivated state.  The photoactivated                     rhodopsin interacts with another molecule, the so-called G-                     protein, which in turn activates the enzyme, cyclic GMP                         phosphodiesterase, leading to the generation of nerve impulses by               reasonably well understood processes.  Little is known of the                   molecular arrangement of atoms within rhodopsin in the                          unactivated or photoactivated states, although it is known that                 rhodopsin consists of a protein to which a derivative of vitamin                A, retinal, is attached.  The results of this project will help                 to clarify the structures of unactivated and photoactivated                     rhodopsin and the nature of the attachment between retinal and                  the protein.                                                                       The basic approach used in this work is to prepare synthetic                 organic molecules that will act as probes, competing with retinal               for its binding site on the protein and "reporting" by their                    optical properties what the local environment is like in                        unactivated and photoactivated rhodopsin.  These probes will not                only provide valuable direct information about the process of                   light detection in vision in the hands of this investigator, they               will also be made available to others for application in other                  kinds of experiments.
{'FirstName': 'Valeria', 'LastName': 'Balogh-Nair', 'PI_MID_INIT': None, 'PI_SUFX_NAME': None, 'PI_FULL_NAME': 'Valeria Balogh-Nair', 'EmailAddress': 'balogh@sci.ccny.cuny.edu', 'NSF_ID': '000176669', 'StartDate': '07/01/1988', 'EndDate': None, 'RoleCode': 'Principal Investigator'}
{'Name': 'CUNY City College', 'CityName': 'NEW YORK', 'ZipCode': '100319101', 'PhoneNumber': '2126505418', 'StreetAddress': '160 CONVENT AVE', 'StreetAddress2': None, 'CountryName': 'United States', 'StateName': 'New York', 'StateCode': 'NY', 'CONGRESSDISTRICT': '13', 'CONGRESS_DISTRICT_ORG': 'NY13', 'ORG_UEI_NUM': 'L952KGDMSLV5', 'ORG_LGL_BUS_NAME': 'RESEARCH FOUNDATION OF THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK', 'ORG_PRNT_UEI_NUM': None}
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{'Code': '118500', 'Text': 'SENSORY SYSTEMS'}
{'url': 'https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/download?DownloadFileName=1988&All=true', 'xml': '8812506.xml'}