Gabriel Peinado Allina
PhD Student
e: gpeinado@ucdavis.edu
B.S. in Biology, Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNAL)
Research
Gabriel’s PhD studies have revolved around studying photoreceptor physiology with non-invasive methods. He investigates how properties intrinsic to cone opsin molecules might enable cone photoreceptors to function under bright light illumination conditions. He also studies how extracellular currents from retinal cells give rise to the electrical signals that comprise the electroretinogram (ERG), and utilizes these electrical signals to study homeostatic mechanisms for K+ regulation in the subretinal space.
The development of non-invasive methods to study the interplay between photoreceptors and other cell types is an important step toward elucidating mechanisms that can only function in the intact retina. The Burns & Pugh lab aim to implement insights previously gained from classic experiments performed ex vivo to study some of the physiological mechanisms that maintain the health and function of the retina in the living animal.
Prior to joining the Burns & Pugh lab, Gabriel studied how sensory cues guide the formation of fruiting bodies in Myxobacteria sp. with Prof. Catalina Arevalo Ferro at UNAL (2010-2011), CLC channels of Leishmania amazonensis with Prof. Marcela Camacho (2011-2013), and the photortransduction cascade of cilliary and rhabdomeric photoreceptors in Pecten and Amphioxus with Enrico Nasi and Pilar Gomez at the MBL. He has received numerous awards and honors during his PhD studies, including best poster presentation at Bay Area Research Vision Day (2016), UC Davis & Humanities graduate research award (2015 – 2016), Miguel Velez Fellowship (2015), Internal Fellowship, Neuroscience graduate program (2008 – 2013).
Publications from the Burns & Pugh lab
- Peinado Allina G & Burns ME. (2019) Harnessing the Sun to See Anew. Neuron 102, 1093–1095. [PubMed]
- Peinado Allina G, Fortenbach C, Naarendorp F, Gross OP, Pugh EN Jr, & Burns ME. (2017) Bright flash response recovery of mammalian rods in vivo is rate limited by RGS9. J. Gen. Physiol. 1-12. [PubMed]
- Zhang P, Shibata B, Peinado Allina G, Zawadzki RJ, FitzGerald P, & Pugh EN Jr. (2019) Measurement of rod outer segment renewal in vivo in mice with the OCT optoretinogram. IOVS. Submitted
- Ronning KE, Peinado Allina G, Miller EB, Zawadzki RJ, Pugh EN Jr, Herrmann R, & Burns ME. (2018) Loss of cone function without degeneration in a novel Gnat2 knock-out mouse. Exp. Eye Res. 171, 11–118. [PubMed]
- Fortenbach CR, Kessler C, Peinado Allina G, Burns ME. (2015) Speeding rod recovery improves temporal resolution in the retina. Vision Research. 110(Pt A):57-67. [PubMed]