The photoreceptor rod cell that is responsible for vision under conditions of low light consists of stacked arrays of disk membranes that make up its outer segment portion. Regulated by complex biochemical mechanisms, the rod outer segment is under constant renewal as new disks form at the base. MREG (melanoregulin), also known as DSU (dilute suppressor protein homolog) or WDT2, is thought to play a role in membrane fusion and in regulating the biogenesis of disk membranes of photoreceptor rods. MREG interacts with RDS (also known as Peripherin-2), a photoreceptor specific tetraspanin protein that is required to maintain normal cell structure during the renewal process of membrane fusion. MREG is 214 amino acids in length, is expressed in photoreceptor cells and and is expressed as two isoforms due to alternative splicing.
