11-cis Retinol is an isomer of vitamin A . It is formed from vitamin A, via a trans-retinyl ester intermediate, by the enzyme RPE65 in the retinal pigment epithelium and then converted to 11-cis retinal as part of the visual cycle.1,2 11-cis Retinol is an agonist of salamander and human red rod opsins expressed in COS cells and an inverse agonist of salamander red cone opsin, as well as human red and green cone opsins expressed in COS cells.3 It promotes pigment formation in cone, but not rod, photoreceptors.
1.Rando, R.R.The biochemistry of the visual cycleChem. Rev.101(7)1881-1896(2001) 2.Guignard, T.J.P., Jin, M., Pequignot, M.O., et al.FATP1 inhibits 11-cis retinol formation via interaction with the visual cycle retinoid isomerase RPE65 and lecithin: Retinol acyltransferaseJ. Biol. Chem.285(24)18759-18768(2010) 3.Ala-Laurila, P., Cornwall, M.C., Crouch, R.K., et al.The action of 11-cis-retinol on cone opsins and intact cone photoreceptorsJ. Biol. Chem.284(24)16492-16500(2009)