Personal essay of a rookie’s journey with Bill Pak and his legacy: tales and perspectives on PI-PLC, NorpA and cyclophilin, NinaA - William L. Pak, PhD., 1932–2023: in memoriam

Abstract

The neurogenetics and vision community recently mourned William L. Pak, PhD, whose pioneering work spearheaded the genetic, electrophysiological, and molecular bases of biological processes underpinning vision. This essay provides a historical background to the daunting challenges and personal experiences that carved the path to seminal findings. It also reflects on the intellectual framework, mentoring philosophy, and inspirational legacy of Bill Pak's research. An emphasis and perspectives are placed on the discoveries and implications to date of the phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (P IP LC), NorpA, and the cyclophilin, NinaA of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, and their respective mammalian homologues, P I-P LCβ4, and cyclophilin-related protein, Ran-binding protein 2 (Ranbp2) in critical biological processes and diseases of photoreceptors and other neurons.

Keywords:

• no receptor potential A (NorpA)
• neither inactivation nor afterpotential A (NinaA)
• cyclophilin
• phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C-β4 (P I-P LC-β4)
• Ran-binding protein 2 (Ranbp2))
• photoreceptor

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.