Nikolaev DM, Shtyrov AA, Vyazmin SY, Vasin AV, Panov MS, Ryazantsev MN. Fluorescence of the Retinal Chromophore in Microbial and Animal Rhodopsins.
Int J Mol Sci 2023;
24:17269. [PMID:
38139098 PMCID:
PMC10743670 DOI:
10.3390/ijms242417269]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2023] [Revised: 11/30/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Fluorescence of the vast majority of natural opsin-based photoactive proteins is extremely low, in accordance with their functions that depend on efficient transduction of absorbed light energy. However, several recently proposed classes of engineered rhodopsins with enhanced fluorescence, along with the discovery of a new natural highly fluorescent rhodopsin, NeoR, opened a way to exploit these transmembrane proteins as fluorescent sensors and draw more attention to studies on this untypical rhodopsin property. Here, we review the available data on the fluorescence of the retinal chromophore in microbial and animal rhodopsins and their photocycle intermediates, as well as different isomers of the protonated retinal Schiff base in various solvents and the gas phase.
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