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Sakurai Lab
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A lab that uses electrophysiology to explore how photoreceptors in the retina and other cells detect light.
AboutAbout the lab
Exploring the mechanisms of light sensing through electrical signals
The Sakurai Lab studies how animals receive light and transmit it to the brain.
Its targets are the two types of photoreceptors in the retina, rods and cones, as well as non-visual photoreception.
The lab combines electrophysiology, a technique for recording the electrical responses of cells, with genetically modified mice and simulations of mathematical models.
Key terms
- Rods and cones
- Two types of photoreceptors in the retina. Rods are specialized for vision in dim light, and cones for vision in bright light
- Electrophysiology
- A research method that records the electrical responses of cells to study how they function
- Opsin
- A light-sensing protein. It is also present in neurons of the retina other than photoreceptors
ResearchResearch themes
Vertebrates receive light from their surroundings with sensory neurons and send the information to the central nervous system. The lab aims to clarify the mechanisms of vision and of non-visual photoreception, which is involved in processes such as the photoentrainment of circadian rhythms.
*Illustrative imageDifferences in how rods and cones function
Rods in the retina can detect even a single photon, while cones maintain their responsiveness even in intense light. The lab uses genetically modified mice to investigate which genes are involved in the specificity of photoreceptors.
*Illustrative imageTracing the evolution of vision
The lab performs electrophysiological measurements on photoreceptors of tunicates (urochordates), regarded as the group closest to the ancestor of vertebrates, and of cyclostomes, to explore how photoreception in vertebrates evolved.
*Illustrative imageNon-visual photoreception
Neurons in the retina other than photoreceptors also have opsins, which are light-sensing proteins, but how they work and what physiological functions they serve are poorly understood. The lab uses genetically modified animals to examine the significance of non-visual photoreception.
MembersFaculty
The Sakurai Lab consists of faculty members, graduate students, and undergraduate students.
- Assistant ProfessorKeisuke Sakurai
VoicesStudent voices
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Patch clamp schematic 2” PeaBrainC / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Differences in how rods and cones function: “Layers of nerve cells in the retina” National Institutes of Health (NIH) / Public domain (cropped)
- Tracing the evolution of vision: “Microcosmus sabatieri” Sylvain Le Bris / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Non-visual photoreception: “Photoreceptor cell” www.scientificanimations.com / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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