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B. K. Fung 2026-11-05
B. K. Fung is the first author of a 1981 study identifying transducin as an amplified intermediary in visual signaling. The team characterized its three types of protein subunits and reconstructed membrane preparations containing rhodopsin and transducin. Illumination promoted binding of a stable GTP analogue even when the downstream phosphodiesterase was absent.[ref]
Flow of information in the light-triggered cyclic nucleotide cascade of vision by B. K. Fung and others. Abstract: subunit characterization and reconstituted membranes; PNAS 78, 152–156, 1981
The researchers then isolated the analogue-bound alpha subunit and found that it activated phosphodiesterase on unilluminated membranes. Separating and recombining components helped establish order: rhodopsin activates transducin, which can activate the enzyme acting on cyclic guanosine monophosphate. A downstream response after adding an isolated intermediary is stronger evidence of a signaling connection than the mere coexistence of the components.[ref]
Flow of information in the light-triggered cyclic nucleotide cascade of vision by B. K. Fung and others. Abstract: nucleotide binding on the alpha subunit and activation without illumination