Light-induced changes in energy metabolites, guanine nucleotides, and guanylate cyclase within frog retinal layers.

Freeze-dried sections were prepared from retinas of frogs which were dark-adapted or exposed to varying periods of light. Samples of the discrete layers were dissected, weighed, and analyzed for energy metabolites, guanylate compounds, and the enzyme guanylate cyclase. ATP and P-creatine were measured in both dark- and light-adapted retinas. There was a gradient in ATP and P-creatine levels in dark-adapted retinas, with the lower concentrations in the photoreceptors, and increasing concentrations in the inner retina. After light adaptation, concentrations increased, an observation which supports the concept that transmitter release occurs in the dark and ceases in the light. The sum of GTP plus GDP, GDP, and cyclic GMP were analyzed in dark-adapted retinas and after exposure to 2 min or 2 h of room light. GDP was rather uniformly distributed in the retinal layers, was increased by 2 min of light in all layers but the outer nuclear, and remained elevated at 2 h in the inner retina. GTP values showed a marked localization in the outer nuclear layer, which increased after 2 min or 2 h of illumination; in all other layers GTP was decreased by light. Cyclic GMP in the dark was highest in the photoreceptor cells, decreasing to one-third after 2 min of light; there were significant increases in the outer plexiform and inner nuclear layers at this time. Cyclic GMP remained low in the photoreceptor cells even after 2 h of light, while the inner layers returned to dark values. Guanylate cyclase, like cyclic GMP, was largely confined to the photoreceptor cells and showed a maximal increase after 2 min of light exposure.