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Gordon Fain Laboratory

Photoreceptor Physiology

Dr. Gordon Fain

Gordon L. Fain, Ph.D.

Professor

Department of Ophthalmology

Jules Stein Eye Institute

The Fain laboratory studies the biophysical mechanisms of photoreceptor function and adaptation. Our research focuses on understanding how photoreceptors respond to light and adapt to different lighting conditions, contributing to both normal vision and retinal disease mechanisms.

Research Focus Areas:

  • Photoreceptor light adaptation mechanisms
  • Calcium regulation in photoreceptor function
  • Energy metabolism in rods and cones
  • Mechanisms of photoreceptor survival and degeneration
  • Cellular basis of light and dark adaptation

Our work combines electrophysiology and imaging approaches to understand the fundamental mechanisms of photoreceptor function. These studies have provided key insights into how the retina processes visual information and adapts to changing light conditions.

Recent Publications

Conservation of cis-regulatory codes over half a billion years of evolution

Gordon Fain, Ala Morshedian, Joseph C. Corbo, Yu Liu, Connie Myers, Yohey Ogawa, Alapakkam Sampath

Science Advances (2025)

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The PDE6 mutation in the rd10 retinal degeneration mouse model causes protein mislocalization and instability and promotes cell death through increased ion influx.

Wang T, Reingruber J, Woodruff ML, Majumder A, Camarena A, Artemyev NO, Fain GL, Chen J

The Journal of biological chemistry (2018)

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Rod and cone interactions in the retina [version 1; referees: 4 approved]

Gordon Fain, Alapakkam P. Sampath

F1000Research (2018)

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Role of recoverin in rod photoreceptor light adaptation.

Morshedian A, Woodruff ML, Fain GL

The Journal of physiology (2018)

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Light adaptation and the evolution of vertebrate photoreceptors.

Morshedian A, Fain GL

The Journal of physiology (2017)

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Cambrian origin of the CYP27C1-mediated vitamin A1-to-A2 switch, a key mechanism of vertebrate sensory plasticity.

Morshedian A, Toomey MB, Pollock GE, Frederiksen R, Enright JM, McCormick SD, Cornwall MC, Fain GL, Corbo JC

Royal Society open science (2017)

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Blue light regenerates functional visual pigments in mammals through a retinyl-phospholipid intermediate.

Kaylor JJ, Xu T, Ingram NT, Tsan A, Hakobyan H, Fain GL, Travis GH

Nature communications (2017)

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The evolution of rod photoreceptors.

Morshedian A, Fain GL

Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences (2017)

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Why are rods more sensitive than cones?

Ingram NT, Sampath AP, Fain GL

The Journal of physiology (2016)

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Phototransduction: Making the Chromophore to See Through the Murk.

Fain GL

Current biology : CB (2015)

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