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titleboxRICHARD PAYNE titlebox

professor pictureProfessor and Chair

email:rpayne@umd.edu
phone:
301.405.6884 (office)
301.405.6924 (lab)
fax:301.314.9358
office:1206 Bio-Psych
graduate programs: Biology, BEES, MOCB, NACS
bullet visit lab page   bullet most recent publications


RESEARCH INTERESTS

Dr. Payne investigates mechanisms of visual excitation in photoreceptors. The research concentrates on messenger molecules released by light inside photoreceptor cells. These messengers mediate and modulate the electrical response of the photoreceptor to light. One messenger under investigation is inositol trisphosphate, which releases calcium from internal stores within a wide range of animal and plant cells. When injected into the giant photoreceptors of the horseshoe crab, inositol trisphosphate mimics excitation of the cell by light. Biochemical studies have shown that light releases inositol trisphosphate from the photoreceptor's membrane into the cell interior. These giant photoreceptors are one of the few living cells in which the actions of this important messenger can be easily studied.

Recent Publications


Bandyopadhyay BC, Payne R. Variants of TRP ion channel mRNA present in horseshoe crab ventral eye and brain. J Neurochem. 2004 Nov;91(4):825-35.

Dabdoub A, Jinks RN, Wang Y, Battelle BA, Payne R. Desensitization of the photoresponse in Limulus ventral photoreceptors by protein kinase C precedes rhabdomere disorganization and endocytosis. Vis Neurosci. 2003 May-Jun;20(3):241-8.

Lisman JE, Richard EA, Raghavachari S, Payne R. Simultaneous roles for Ca2+ in excitation and adaptation of Limulus ventral photoreceptors. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2002;514:507-38. Review.

Wang Y, Deshpande M, Payne R. 2-Aminoethoxydiphenyl borate inhibits phototransduction and blocks voltage-gated potassium channels in Limulus ventral photoreceptors. Cell Calcium. 2002 Oct;32(4):209-16.