retinene meaning
Noun: retinene
- Either of two yellow to red retinal pigments formed from rhodopsin by the action of light
- retinal
Derived forms: retinenes
Type of: pigment
Part of: retinal purple, rhodopsin, visual purple
Encyclopedia: Retinene
[Medicine]
A carotenoid constituent of visual pigments. It is the oxidized form of retinol which functions as the active component of the visual cycle. It is bound to the protein opsin forming the complex rhodopsin. When stimulated by visible light,the retinal component of the rhodopsin complex undergoes isomerization at the 11-position of the double bond to the cis-form; this is reversed in dark reactions to return to the native trans-configuration. n : either of two aldehydes derived from vitamin A:
a : RETINAL
b : an orange-red crystalline compound C20H26O related to vitamin A2 and formed from porphyropsin by the action of light
Examples
- Retinene 2 is more formally known as dehydroretinaldehyde.
- "The names of all these molecules have recently been changed . . . vitamin A is now retinol, retinene is retinal; there is also retinoic acid " & mdash; George Wald ( 1967 ).
- In the visual system, "'retinal "', technically called " retinene " 1 or " retinaldehyde ", is a light-sensitive molecule found in the rods and cones of the retina.
- Retinene 1 is better known as "'retinaldehyde "'or simply retinal and is fundamental in the transduction of light into visual signals in the photoreceptor level of the retina ( known as the visual cycle ).