A PCR analysis of rhodopsin gene transcription in rat pineal photoreceptor differentiation.

A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method was used to detect rhodopsin transcripts in rat pineals both in vivo and in vitro. Only very low levels of transcripts were detected in preparations from adult rat pineal tissue, but fairly large amounts were detected in cDNA preparations from cultures of newborn rat pineals. The transcript level was reduced significantly if the cells had been cultured in the presence of 10 microM norepinephrine (NE). This concentration of NE had previously been shown to abolish almost completely the rhodopsin immunoreactivity normally seen in such cultures. The present work indicates that part, but not all, of the effect of NE is probably at the level of translation.