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Gordon Fain Laboratory

Photoreceptor Physiology

Dr. Gordon Fain

Gordon L. Fain, Ph.D.

Professor

  • Department of Ophthalmology
  • Jules Stein Eye Institute

The Fain laboratory studies the biophysical mechanisms of photoreceptor function and adaptation. Our research focuses on understanding how photoreceptors respond to light and adapt to different lighting conditions, contributing to both normal vision and retinal disease mechanisms.

Research Focus Areas:

  • Photoreceptor light adaptation mechanisms
  • Calcium regulation in photoreceptor function
  • Energy metabolism in rods and cones
  • Mechanisms of photoreceptor survival and degeneration
  • Cellular basis of light and dark adaptation

Our work combines electrophysiology and imaging approaches to understand the fundamental mechanisms of photoreceptor function. These studies have provided key insights into how the retina processes visual information and adapts to changing light conditions.

Recent Publications

Conservation of cis-regulatory codes over half a billion years of evolution

Yohey Ogawa, Yu Liu, Connie A. Myers, Ala Morshedian, Gordon L. Fain, Alapakkam P. Sampath, Joseph C. Corbo

Science Advances (2025)

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The PDE6 mutation in the rd10 retinal degeneration mouse model causes protein mislocalization and instability and promotes cell death through increased ion influx.

Tian Wang, Jürgen Reingruber, Michael L. Woodruff, Anurima Majumder, Andres Camarena, Nikolai O. Artemyev, Gordon L. Fain, Jeannie Chen

The Journal of biological chemistry (2018)

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Rod and cone interactions in the retina [version 1; referees: 4 approved]

Gordon Fain, Alapakkam P. Sampath

F1000Research (2018)

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Role of recoverin in rod photoreceptor light adaptation.

Ala Morshedian, Michael L. Woodruff, Gordon L. Fain

The Journal of physiology (2018)

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Cambrian origin of the CYP27C1-mediated vitamin A1-to-A2 switch, a key mechanism of vertebrate sensory plasticity.

Ala Morshedian, Matthew B. Toomey, Gabriel E. Pollock, Rikard Frederiksen, Jennifer M. Enright, Stephen D. McCormick, …, Gordon L. Fain, et al.

Royal Society open science (2017)

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Light adaptation and the evolution of vertebrate photoreceptors.

Ala Morshedian, Gordon L. Fain

The Journal of physiology (2017)

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Blue light regenerates functional visual pigments in mammals through a retinyl-phospholipid intermediate.

Kaylor JJ, Xu T, Ingram NT, Tsan A, Hakobyan H, Fain GL, Travis GH

Nature communications (2017)

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The evolution of rod photoreceptors.

Ala Morshedian, Gordon L. Fain

Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences (2017)

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Why are rods more sensitive than cones?

Norianne T. Ingram, Alapakkam P. Sampath, Gordon L. Fain

The Journal of physiology (2016)

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Phototransduction: Making the Chromophore to See Through the Murk.

Gordon L. Fain

Current biology : CB (2015)

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