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Interdisciplinary biophysical studies of membrane proteins bacteriorhodopsin and rhodopsin. Biophys Rev 2023; 15:111-125. [PMID: 36909961 PMCID: PMC9995646 DOI: 10.1007/s12551-022-01003-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2022] [Accepted: 09/28/2022] [Indexed: 10/10/2022] Open
Abstract
The centenary of the birth of H. Gobind Khorana provides an auspicious opportunity to review the origins and evolution of parallel advances in biophysical methodology and molecular genetics technology used to study membrane proteins. Interdisciplinary work in the Khorana laboratory in the late 1970s and for the next three decades led to productive collaborations and fostered three subsequent scientific generations whose biophysical work on membrane proteins has led to detailed elucidation of the molecular mechanisms of energy transduction by the light-driven proton pump bacteriorhodopsin (bR) and signal transduction by the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) rhodopsin. This review will highlight the origins and advances of biophysical studies of membrane proteins made possible by the application of molecular genetics approaches to engineer site-specific alterations of membrane protein structures.
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Tomida S, Kitagawa S, Kandori H, Furutani Y. Inverse Hydrogen-Bonding Change Between the Protonated Retinal Schiff Base and Water Molecules upon Photoisomerization in Heliorhodopsin 48C12. J Phys Chem B 2021; 125:8331-8341. [PMID: 34292728 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.1c01907] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Heliorhodopsin (HeR) is a new class of the rhodopsin family discovered in 2018 through functional metagenomic analysis (named 48C12). Similar to typical microbial rhodopsins, HeR possesses seven transmembrane (TM) α-helices and an all-trans-retinal covalently bonded to the lysine residue on TM7 via a protonated Schiff base. Remarkably, the HeR membrane topology is inverted compared with that of typical microbial rhodopsins. The X-ray crystal structure of HeR 48C12 was elucidated after the first report on a HeR variant from Thermoplasmatales archaeon SG8-52-1, which revealed the water-mediated hydrogen-bonding network connected to the Schiff base region in the cytoplasmic side. Herein, low-temperature light-induced FTIR spectroscopic analyses of HeR 48C12 and 15N isotopically labeled proteins were used to elucidate the structural changes during retinal photoisomerization. N-D stretching vibrations of the protonated retinal Schiff base (PRSB) at 2286 and 2302 cm-1 in the dark state, and 2239 and 2252 cm-1 in the K intermediate were observed. The frequency changes indicated that the hydrogen bond of PRSB strengthens upon photoisomerization in HeR. Moreover, O-D stretching vibration frequencies of the internal water molecules indicate that the hydrogen-bonding strength decreases concomitantly. Therefore, the PRSB hydrogen bond responds to photoisomerization in an opposite way to the hydrogen-bonding network involving water molecules. No frequency changes of the indole N-H or N-D stretching vibrations of tryptophan residues were observed upon photoisomerization, suggesting that all tryptophan residues in the HeR 48C12 maintained the hydrogen-bonding strengths in the K intermediate. These results provide insights into the molecular mechanism of the energy storage and propagation upon retinal photoisomerization in HeR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sahoko Tomida
- Department of Life Science and Applied Chemistry, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan
| | - Shinya Kitagawa
- Department of Life Science and Applied Chemistry, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan
| | - Hideki Kandori
- Department of Life Science and Applied Chemistry, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan.,OptoBioTechnology Research Center, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan
| | - Yuji Furutani
- Department of Life Science and Applied Chemistry, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan.,OptoBioTechnology Research Center, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan
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Nonaka Y, Hanai S, Katayama K, Imai H, Kandori H. Unique Retinal Binding Pocket of Primate Blue-Sensitive Visual Pigment. Biochemistry 2020; 59:2602-2607. [PMID: 32567852 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.0c00394] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
The visual pigments of humans contain 11-cis retinal as the chromophore of light perception, and its photoisomerization to the all-trans form initiates visual excitation in our eyes. It is well-known that three isomeric states of retinal (11-cis, all-trans, and 9-cis) are in photoequilibrium at very low temperatures such as 77 K. Here we report the lack of formation of the 9-cis form in monkey blue (MB) at 77 K, as revealed by light-induced difference Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. This indicates that the chromophore binding pocket of MB does not accommodate the 9-cis form, even though it accommodates the all-trans form by twisting the chromophore. Mutation of the blue-specific tyrosine at position 265 to tryptophan, which is highly conserved in other animal rhodopsins, led to formation of the 9-cis form in MB, suggesting that Y265 is one of the determinants of the unique photochemistry in blue pigments. We also found that 9-cis retinal does not bind to MB opsin, implying that the chromophore binding pocket does not accommodate the 9-cis form at physiological temperature. The unique property of MB is discussed on the basis of the results presented here.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuki Nonaka
- Department of Life Science and Applied Chemistry, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan
| | - Shunpei Hanai
- Department of Life Science and Applied Chemistry, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan
| | - Kota Katayama
- Department of Life Science and Applied Chemistry, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan.,OptoBioTechnology Research Center, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan
| | - Hiroo Imai
- Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama 484-8506, Japan
| | - Hideki Kandori
- Department of Life Science and Applied Chemistry, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan.,OptoBioTechnology Research Center, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan
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4
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Kandori H. Structure/Function Study of Photoreceptive Proteins by FTIR Spectroscopy. BULLETIN OF THE CHEMICAL SOCIETY OF JAPAN 2020. [DOI: 10.1246/bcsj.20200109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Hideki Kandori
- Department of Life Science and Applied Chemistry & OptoBioTechnology Research Center, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Showa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 466-8555, Japan
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5
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Abstract
Infrared difference spectroscopy probes vibrational changes of proteins upon their perturbation. Compared with other spectroscopic methods, it stands out by its sensitivity to the protonation state, H-bonding, and the conformation of different groups in proteins, including the peptide backbone, amino acid side chains, internal water molecules, or cofactors. In particular, the detection of protonation and H-bonding changes in a time-resolved manner, not easily obtained by other techniques, is one of the most successful applications of IR difference spectroscopy. The present review deals with the use of perturbations designed to specifically change the protein between two (or more) functionally relevant states, a strategy often referred to as reaction-induced IR difference spectroscopy. In the first half of this contribution, I review the technique of reaction-induced IR difference spectroscopy of proteins, with special emphasis given to the preparation of suitable samples and their characterization, strategies for the perturbation of proteins, and methodologies for time-resolved measurements (from nanoseconds to minutes). The second half of this contribution focuses on the spectral interpretation. It starts by reviewing how changes in H-bonding, medium polarity, and vibrational coupling affect vibrational frequencies, intensities, and bandwidths. It is followed by band assignments, a crucial aspect mostly performed with the help of isotopic labeling and site-directed mutagenesis, and complemented by integration and interpretation of the results in the context of the studied protein, an aspect increasingly supported by spectral calculations. Selected examples from the literature, predominately but not exclusively from retinal proteins, are used to illustrate the topics covered in this review.
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Melaccio F, Calimet N, Schapiro I, Valentini A, Cecchini M, Olivucci M. Space and Time Evolution of the Electrostatic Potential During the Activation of a Visual Pigment. J Phys Chem Lett 2016; 7:2563-2567. [PMID: 27322155 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.6b00977] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Animal and microbial retinal proteins employ the Schiff base of retinal as their chromophore. Here, the possible consequences of the charge translocation associated with the light-induced dynamics of the chromophore of a visual opsin are investigated along a representative semiclassical trajectory. We show that the evolution of the electrostatic potential projected by the chromophore onto the surrounding protein displays intense but topographically localized sudden variations in proximity of the decay region. pKa calculations carried out on selected snapshots used as probes, indicate that the only residue which may be sensitive to the electrostatic potential shift is Glu181. Accordingly, our results suggest that the frail Tyr191/268-Glu181-Wat2-Ser186 hydrogen bond network may be perturbed by the transient variations of the electrostatic potential.
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Affiliation(s)
- Federico Melaccio
- Department of Chemistry, Bowling Green State University , Bowling Green, Ohio 43403, United States
| | - Nicolas Calimet
- ISIS, UMR 7006 CNRS, Université de Strasbourg , F-67083 Strasbourg Cedex, France
| | - Igor Schapiro
- Fritz Haber Center for Molecular Dynamics, Institute of Chemistry, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem , Jerusalem 91904, Israel
| | - Alessio Valentini
- Department of Chemistry, Bowling Green State University , Bowling Green, Ohio 43403, United States
| | - Marco Cecchini
- ISIS, UMR 7006 CNRS, Université de Strasbourg , F-67083 Strasbourg Cedex, France
| | - Massimo Olivucci
- Dipartimento di Biotecnologie, Chimica e Farmacia, Università di Siena , via A. Moro 2, I-53100 Siena, Italy
- Department of Chemistry, Bowling Green State University , Bowling Green, Ohio 43403, United States
- Institut de Physique et Chimie des Matériaux de Strasbourg, UMR 7504 Université de Strasbourg-CNRS , F-67034 Strasbourg, France
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Yamazaki Y, Nagata T, Terakita A, Kandori H, Shichida Y, Imamoto Y. Mapping of the local environmental changes in proteins by cysteine scanning. Biophysics (Nagoya-shi) 2014; 10:1-7. [PMID: 27493492 PMCID: PMC4629666 DOI: 10.2142/biophysics.10.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2013] [Accepted: 12/18/2013] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Protein conformational changes, which regulate the activity of proteins, are induced by the alternation of intramolecular interactions. Therefore, the detection of the local environmental changes around the key amino acid residues is essential to understand the activation mechanisms of functional proteins. Here we developed the methods to scan the local environmental changes using the vibrational band of cysteine S-H group. We validated the sensitivity of this method using bathorhodopsin, a photoproduct of rhodopsin trapped at liquid nitrogen temperature, which undergoes little conformational changes from the dark state as shown by the X-ray crystallography. The cysteine residues were individually introduced into 15 positions of Helix III, which contains several key amino acid residues for the light-induced conformational changes of rhodopsin. The shifts of S-H stretching modes of these cysteine residues and native cysteine residues upon the formation of bathorhodopsin were measured by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. While most of cysteine residues demonstrated no shift of S-H stretching mode, cysteine residues introduced at positions 117, 118, and 122, which are in the vicinity of the chromophore, demonstrated the significant changes. The current results are consistent with the crystal structure of bathorhodopsin, implying that the cysteine scanning is sensitive enough to detect the tiny conformational changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoichi Yamazaki
- Department of Biophysics, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan; Graduate School of Materials Science, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Nara 630-0192, Japan
| | - Tomoko Nagata
- Department of Biophysics, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
| | - Akihisa Terakita
- Department of Biology and Geosciences, Graduate School of Science, Osaka City University, Osaka 558-8585, Japan
| | - Hideki Kandori
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan
| | - Yoshinori Shichida
- Department of Biophysics, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
| | - Yasushi Imamoto
- Department of Biophysics, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
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8
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Siebert F. Application of FTIR Spectroscopy to the Investigation of Dark Structures and Photoreactions of Visual Pigments. Isr J Chem 2013. [DOI: 10.1002/ijch.199500033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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Kim JE, McCamant DW, Zhu L, Mathies RA. Resonance Raman Structural Evidence that the Cis-to-Trans Isomerization in Rhodopsin Occurs in Femtoseconds. J Phys Chem B 2012; 105:1240-9. [PMID: 16755302 PMCID: PMC1473983 DOI: 10.1021/jp001236s] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Picosecond time-resolved resonance Raman spectroscopy is used to probe the structural changes of rhodopsin's retinal chromophore as the cis-to-trans isomerization reaction occurs that initiates vision. Room-temperature resonance Raman spectra of rhodopsin's photoproduct with time delays from -0.7 to 20.8 ps are measured using 2.2 ps, 480 nm pump and 1.5 ps, 600 nm probe pulses. Hydrogen-out-of-plane (HOOP) modes at 852, 871, and 919 cm(-1), fingerprint peaks at 1272, 1236, 1211, and 1166 cm(-1), and a broad red-shifted ethylenic band at 1530 cm(-1) are present at the earliest positive pump-probe time delay of 0.8 ps, indicating that the chromophore is already in a strained, all-trans configuration. Kinetic analyses of both the HOOP and ethylenic regions of the photoproduct spectra reveal that these features grow in with fast ( approximately 200 fs) and slow ( approximately 2-3 ps) components. These data provide the first structural evidence that photorhodopsin has a thermally unrelaxed, torsionally strained all-trans chromophore within approximately 1 ps, and possibly within 200 fs, of photon absorption. Following this ultrafast product formation, the all-trans chromophore cools and conformationally relaxes within a few picoseconds to form bathorhodopsin. This cooling process is revealed as an ethylenic frequency blue-shift of 6 cm(-1) (tau approximately 3.5 ps) as well as an ethylenic width narrowing (tau approximately 2 ps). The ultrafast production of photorhodopsin is likely accompanied by an impulsively driven, localized protein response. More delocalized protein modes are unable to relax on this ultrafast time scale enabling the chromophore-protein complex to store the large amounts of photon energy (30-35 kcal/mol) that are subsequently used to drive activating protein conformational changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- J E Kim
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720
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Murakami M, Kouyama T. Crystallographic Analysis of the Primary Photochemical Reaction of Squid Rhodopsin. J Mol Biol 2011; 413:615-27. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2011.08.044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2011] [Revised: 08/19/2011] [Accepted: 08/23/2011] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
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11
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Sandberg MN, Amora TL, Ramos LS, Chen MH, Knox BE, Birge RR. Glutamic acid 181 is negatively charged in the bathorhodopsin photointermediate of visual rhodopsin. J Am Chem Soc 2011; 133:2808-11. [PMID: 21319741 DOI: 10.1021/ja1094183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Assignment of the protonation state of the residue Glu-181 is important to our understanding of the primary event, activation processes and wavelength selection in rhodopsin. Despite extensive study, there is no general agreement on the protonation state of this residue in the literature. Electronic assignment is complicated by the location of Glu-181 near the nodal point in the electrostatic charge shift that accompanies excitation of the chromophore into the low-lying, strongly allowed ππ* state. Thus, the charge on this residue is effectively hidden from electronic spectroscopy. This situation is resolved in bathorhodopsin, because photoisomerization of the chromophore places Glu-181 well within the region of negative charge shift following excitation. We demonstrate that Glu-181 is negatively charged in bathorhodopsin on the basis of the shift in the batho absorption maxima at 10 K [λ(max) band (native) = 544 ± 2 nm, λ(max) band (E181Q) = 556 ± 3 nm] and the decrease in the λ(max) band oscillator strength (0.069 ± 0.004) of E181Q relative to that of the native protein. Because the primary event in rhodopsin does not include a proton translocation or disruption of the hydrogen-bonding network within the binding pocket, we may conclude that the Glu-181 residue in rhodopsin is also charged.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan N Sandberg
- Department of Chemistry, University of Connecticut, 55 North Eagleville Road, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA
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12
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Groesbeek M, van der Steen R, van Vliet JC, Vertegaal LBJ, Lugtenburg J. Synthesis of three retinal models, including the 10-s-cis-locked retinal, all-E-12,19-methanoretinal. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2010. [DOI: 10.1002/recl.19891081202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
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13
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Ahuja S, Eilers M, Hirshfeld A, Yan ECY, Ziliox M, Sakmar TP, Sheves M, Smith SO. 6-s-cis Conformation and polar binding pocket of the retinal chromophore in the photoactivated state of rhodopsin. J Am Chem Soc 2010; 131:15160-9. [PMID: 19795853 DOI: 10.1021/ja9034768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The visual pigment rhodopsin is unique among the G protein-coupled receptors in having an 11-cis retinal chromophore covalently bound to the protein through a protonated Schiff base linkage. The chromophore locks the visual receptor in an inactive conformation through specific steric and electrostatic interactions. This efficient inverse agonist is rapidly converted to an agonist, the unprotonated Schiff base of all-trans retinal, upon light activation. Here, we use magic angle spinning NMR spectroscopy to obtain the (13)C chemical shifts (C5-C20) of the all-trans retinylidene chromophore and the (15)N chemical shift of the Schiff base nitrogen in the active metarhodopsin II intermediate. The retinal chemical shifts are sensitive to the conformation of the chromophore and its molecular interactions within the protein-binding site. Comparison of the retinal chemical shifts in metarhodopsin II with those of retinal model compounds reveals that the Schiff base environment is polar. In particular, the (13)C15 and (15)Nepsilon chemical shifts indicate that the C horizontal lineN bond is highly polarized in a manner that would facilitate Schiff base hydrolysis. We show that a strong perturbation of the retinal (13)C12 chemical shift observed in rhodopsin is reduced in wild-type metarhodopsin II and in the E181Q mutant of rhodopsin. On the basis of the T(1) relaxation time of the retinal (13)C18 methyl group and the conjugated retinal (13)C5 and (13)C8 chemical shifts, we have determined that the conformation of the retinal C6-C7 single bond connecting the beta-ionone ring and the retinylidene chain is 6-s-cis in both the inactive and the active states of rhodopsin. These results are discussed within the general framework of ligand-activated G protein-coupled receptors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shivani Ahuja
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794-5215, USA
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Vogel R, Siebert F. Fourier transform IR spectroscopy study for new insights into molecular properties and activation mechanisms of visual pigment rhodopsin. Biopolymers 2003; 72:133-48. [PMID: 12722110 DOI: 10.1002/bip.10407] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Fourier transform IR (FTIR) spectroscopy has been successfully applied in recent years to examine the functional and structural properties of the membrane protein rhodopsin, a prototype G protein coupled receptor. Unlike UV-visible spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy is structurally sensitive. It may give us both global information about the conformation of the protein and very detailed information about the retinal chromophore and all other functional groups, even when these are not directly related to the chromophore. Furthermore, it can be successfully applied to the photointermediates of rhodopsin, including the active receptor species, metarhodopsin II, and its decay products, which is not expected presently or even in the near future from crystallographic approaches. In this review we show how FTIR spectroscopy has significantly contributed to the understanding of very different aspects of rhodopsin, comprising both structural properties and the mechanisms leading to receptor activation and deactivation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reiner Vogel
- Biophysics Group, Institut für Molekulare Medizin und Zellforschung, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Strasse 9, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany
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Kim JE, Pan D, Mathies RA. Picosecond dynamics of G-protein coupled receptor activation in rhodopsin from time-resolved UV resonance Raman spectroscopy. Biochemistry 2003; 42:5169-75. [PMID: 12731857 PMCID: PMC1404556 DOI: 10.1021/bi030026d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The protein response to retinal chromophore isomerization in the visual pigment rhodopsin is studied using picosecond time-resolved UV resonance Raman spectroscopy. High signal-to-noise Raman spectra are obtained using a 1 kHz Ti:Sapphire laser apparatus that provides <3 ps visible (466 nm) pump and UV (233 nm) probe pulses. When there is no time delay between the pump and probe events, tryptophan modes W18, W16, and W3 exhibit decreased Raman scattering intensity. At longer pump-probe time delays of +5 and +20 ps, both tryptophan (W18, W16, W3, and W1) and tyrosine (Y1 + 2xY16a, Y7a, Y8a) peak intensities drop by up to 3%. These intensity changes are attributed to decreased hydrophobicity in the microenvironment near at least one tryptophan and one tyrosine residue that likely arise from weakened interaction with the beta-ionone ring of the chromophore following cis-to-trans isomerization. Examination of the crystal structure suggests that W265 and Y268 are responsible for these signals. These UV Raman spectral changes are nearly identical to those observed for the rhodopsin-to-Meta I transition, implying that impulsively driven protein motion by the isomerizing chromophore during the 200 fs primary transition drives key structural changes that lead to protein activation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judy E Kim
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
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Pan D, Ganim Z, Kim JE, Verhoeven MA, Lugtenburg J, Mathies RA. Time-resolved resonance Raman analysis of chromophore structural changes in the formation and decay of rhodopsin's BSI intermediate. J Am Chem Soc 2002; 124:4857-64. [PMID: 11971736 PMCID: PMC1440918 DOI: 10.1021/ja012666e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Time-resolved resonance Raman microchip flow experiments are performed to obtain the vibrational spectrum of the chromophore in rhodopsin's BSI intermediate and to probe structural changes in the bathorhodopsin-to-BSI and BSI-to-lumirhodopsin transitions. Kinetic Raman spectra from 250 ns to 3 micros identify the key vibrational features of BSI. BSI exhibits relatively intense HOOP modes at 886 and 945 cm(-1) that are assigned to C(14)H and C(11)H=C(12)H A(u) wags, respectively. This result suggests that in the bathorhodopsin-to-BSI transition the highly strained all-trans chromophore has relaxed in the C(10)-C(11)=C(12)-C(13) region, but is still distorted near C(14). The low frequency of the 11,12 A(u) HOOP mode in BSI compared with that of lumirhodopsin and metarhodopsin I indicates weaker coupling between the 11H and 12H wags due to residual distortion of the BSI chromophore near C(11)=C(12). The C=NH(+) stretching mode in BSI at 1653 cm(-1) exhibits a normal deuteriation induced downshift of 23 cm(-1), implying that there is no significant structural rearrangement of the Schiff base counterion region in the transition of bathorhodopsin to BSI. However, a dramatic Schiff base environment change occurs in the BSI-to-lumirhodopsin transition, because the 1638 cm(-1) C=NH(+) stretching mode in lumirhodopsin is unusually low and shifts only 7 cm(-1) in D(2)O, suggesting that it has essentially no H-bonding acceptor. With these data we can for the first time compare and discuss the room temperature resonance Raman vibrational structure of all the key intermediates in visual excitation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Duohai Pan
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
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Light-induced Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic investigations of primary reactions in photosystem I and photosystem II. FEBS Lett 2001. [DOI: 10.1016/0014-5793(86)80589-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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18
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Metzler DE, Metzler CM, Sauke DJ. Light and Life. Biochemistry 2001. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-012492543-4/50026-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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Abstract
Movement of the ligand/receptor complex in rhodopsin (Rh) has been traced. Bleaching of diazoketo rhodopsin (DK-Rh) containing 11-cis-3-diazo-4-oxo-retinal yields batho-, lumi-, meta-I-, and meta-II-Rh intermediates corresponding to those of native Rh but at lower temperatures. Photoaffinity labeling of DK-Rh and these bleaching intermediates shows that the ionone ring cross-links to tryptophan-265 on helix F in DK-Rh and batho-Rh, and to alanine-169 on helix D in lumi-, meta-I-, and meta-II-Rh intermediates. It is likely that these movements involving a flip-over of the chromophoric ring trigger changes in cytoplasmic membrane loops resulting in heterotrimeric guanine nucleotide-binding protein (G protein) activation.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Borhan
- Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
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20
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Mathies R, Lugtenburg J. Chapter 2 The primary photoreaction of rhodopsin. HANDBOOK OF BIOLOGICAL PHYSICS 2000. [DOI: 10.1016/s1383-8121(00)80005-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
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Degrip W, Rothschild K. Chapter 1 Structure and mechanism of vertebrate visual pigments. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2000. [DOI: 10.1016/s1383-8121(00)80004-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/07/2023]
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Verdegem PJ, Bovee-Geurts PH, de Grip WJ, Lugtenburg J, de Groot HJ. Retinylidene ligand structure in bovine rhodopsin, metarhodopsin-I, and 10-methylrhodopsin from internuclear distance measurements using 13C-labeling and 1-D rotational resonance MAS NMR. Biochemistry 1999; 38:11316-24. [PMID: 10471281 DOI: 10.1021/bi983014e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Rhodopsin is the G-protein coupled photoreceptor that initiates the rod phototransduction cascade in the vertebrate retina. Using specific isotope enrichment and magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR, we examine the spatial structure of the C10-C11=C12-C13-C20 motif in the native retinylidene chromophore, its 10-methyl analogue, and the predischarge photoproduct metarhodopsin-I. For the rhodopsin study 11-Z-[10,20-(13)C(2)]- and 11-Z-[11,20-(13)C(2)]-retinal were synthesized and incorporated into bovine opsin while maintaining a natural lipid environment. The ligand is covalently bound to Lys(296) in the photoreceptor. The C10-C20 and C11-C20 distances were measured using a novel 1-D CP/MAS NMR rotational resonance experimental procedure that was specifically developed for the purpose of these measurements [Verdegem, P. J. E., Helmle, M., Lugtenburg, J., and de Groot, H. J. M. (1997) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 119, 169]. We obtain r(10,20) = 0.304 +/- 0.015 nm and r(11,20) = 0.293 +/- 0.015 nm, which confirms that the retinylidene is 11-Z and shows that the C10-C13 unit is conformationally twisted. The corresponding torsional angle is about 44 degrees as indicated by Car-Parrinello modeling studies. To increase the nonplanarity in the chromophore, 11-Z-[10,20-(13)C(2)]-10-methylretinal and 11-Z-[(10-CH(3)), 13-(13)C(2)]-10-methylretinal were prepared and incorporated in opsin. For the resulting analogue pigment r(10,20) = 0.347 +/- 0.015 nm and r((10)(-)(CH)()3())(,)(13) = 0.314 +/- 0.015 nm were obtained, consistent with a more distorted chromophore. The analogue data are in agreement with the induced fit principle for the interaction of opsin with modified retinal chromophores. Finally, we determined the intraligand distances r(10,20) and r(11,20) also for the photoproduct metarhodopsin-I, which has a relaxed all-E structure. The results (r(10,20) >/= 0.435 nm and r(11,20) = 0.283 +/- 0.015 nm) fully agree with such a relaxed all-E structure, which further validates the 1-D rotational resonance technique for measuring intraligand distances and probing ligand structure. As far as we are aware, these results represent the first highly precise distance determinations in a ligand at the active site of a membrane protein. Overall, the MAS NMR data indicate a tight binding pocket, well defined to bind specifically only one enantiomer out of four possibilities and providing a steric complement to the chromophore in an ultrafast ( approximately 200 fs) isomerization process.
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Affiliation(s)
- P J Verdegem
- Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Gorlaeus Laboratories, The Netherlands
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23
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Affiliation(s)
- L M Ng
- Chemistry Department, Cleveland State University, Ohio 44115, USA
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24
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DeLange F, Klaassen CH, Wallace-Williams SE, Bovee-Geurts PH, Liu XM, DeGrip WJ, Rothschild KJ. Tyrosine structural changes detected during the photoactivation of rhodopsin. J Biol Chem 1998; 273:23735-9. [PMID: 9726981 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.273.37.23735] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
We present the first Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis of an isotope-labeled eukaryotic membrane protein. A combination of isotope labeling and FTIR difference spectroscopy was used to investigate the possible involvement of tyrosines in the photoactivation of rhodopsin (Rho). Rho --> MII difference spectra were obtained at 10 degrees C for unlabeled recombinant Rho and isotope-labeled L-[ring-2H4]Tyr-Rho expressed in Spodoptera frugiperda cells grown on a stringent culture medium containing enriched L-[ring-2H4]Tyr and isolated using a His6 tag. A comparison of these difference spectra revealed reproducible changes in bands that correspond to tyrosine and tyrosinate vibrational modes. A similar pattern of tyrosine/tyrosinate bands has also been observed in the bR --> M transition in bacteriorhodopsin, although the sign of the bands is reversed. In bacteriorhodopsin, these bands were assigned to Tyr-185, which along with Pro-186 in the F-helix, may form a hinge that facilitates alpha-helix movement.
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Affiliation(s)
- F DeLange
- Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Cellular Signalling, University of Nijmegen, 6500 HB, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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25
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Lin SW, Groesbeek M, van der Hoef I, Verdegem P, Lugtenburg J, Mathies RA. Vibrational Assignment of Torsional Normal Modes of Rhodopsin: Probing Excited-State Isomerization Dynamics along the Reactive C11C12 Torsion Coordinate. J Phys Chem B 1998. [DOI: 10.1021/jp972752u] [Citation(s) in RCA: 91] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Steven W. Lin
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, and Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden University, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Michel Groesbeek
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, and Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden University, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Ineke van der Hoef
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, and Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden University, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Peter Verdegem
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, and Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden University, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Johan Lugtenburg
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, and Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden University, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Richard A. Mathies
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, and Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden University, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
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26
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Rath P, Delange F, Degrip WJ, Rothschild KJ. Hydrogen bonding changes of internal water molecules in rhodopsin during metarhodopsin I and metarhodopsin II formation. Biochem J 1998; 329 ( Pt 3):713-7. [PMID: 9445403 PMCID: PMC1219097 DOI: 10.1042/bj3290713] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Rhodopsin is a 7-helix, integral membrane protein found in the rod outer segments, which serves as the light receptor in vision. Light absorption by the retinylidene chromophore of rhodopsin triggers an 11-cis-->all-trans isomerization, followed by a series of protein conformational changes, which culminate in the binding and activation of the G-protein transducin by the metarhodopsin II (Meta II) intermediate. Fourier transform IR difference spectroscopy has been used to investigate the structural changes that water, as well as other OH- and NH-containing groups, undergo during the formation of the metarhodopsin I (Meta I) and Meta II intermediates. Bands associated with the OH stretch modes of water are identified by characteristic downshifts upon substitution of H2(18)O for H2O. Compared with earlier work, several negative bands associated with water molecules in unphotolysed rhodopsin were detected, which shift to lower frequencies upon formation of the Meta I and Meta II intermediates. These data indicate that at least one water molecule undergoes an increase in hydrogen bonding upon formation of the Meta I intermediate, while at least one other increases its hydrogen bonding during Meta II formation. Amino acid residue Asp-83, which undergoes a change in its hydrogen bonding during Meta II formation, does not appear to interact with any of the structurally active water molecules. Several NH and/or OH groups, which are inaccessible to hydrogen/deuterium exchange, also undergo alterations during Meta I and Meta II formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Rath
- Department of Physics and Molecular Biophysics Laboratory, Boston University, MA 02215, USA
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27
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Rath P, DeGrip WJ, Rothschild KJ. Photoactivation of rhodopsin causes an increased hydrogen-deuterium exchange of buried peptide groups. Biophys J 1998; 74:192-8. [PMID: 9449322 PMCID: PMC1299374 DOI: 10.1016/s0006-3495(98)77779-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
A key step in visual transduction is the light-induced conformational changes of rhodopsin that lead to binding and activation of the G-protein transducin. In order to explore the nature of these conformational changes, time-resolved Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to measure the kinetics of hydrogen/deuterium exchange in rhodopsin upon photoexcitation. The extent of hydrogen/deuterium exchange of backbone peptide groups can be monitored by measuring the integrated intensity of the amide II and amide II' bands. When rhodopsin films are exposed to D2O in the dark for long periods, the amide II band retains at least 60% of its integrated intensity, reflecting a core of backbone peptide groups that are resistant to H/D exchange. Upon photoactivation, rhodopsin in the presence of D2O exhibits a new phase of H/D exchange which at 10 degrees C consists of fast (time constant approximately 30 min) and slow (approximately 11 h) components. These results indicate that photoactivation causes buried portions of the rhodopsin backbone structure to become more accessible.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Rath
- Department of Physics, Boston University, Massachusetts 02215, USA
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28
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Ludlam GJ, Rothschild KJ. Similarity of bacteriorhodopsin structural changes triggered by chromophore removal and light-driven proton transport. FEBS Lett 1997; 407:285-8. [PMID: 9175869 DOI: 10.1016/s0014-5793(97)00351-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Bacteriorhodopsin (bR) is the light-driven proton pump found in the purple membrane of Halobacterium salinarium. A series of conformational changes occur during the bR photocycle which involve alterations in buried-helical structure as well as in the protonation state of Asp residues which are part of the proton transport pathway. Here we report evidence that similar conformational changes occur upon removal of the retinylidene chromophore of bacteriorhodopsin to form the apoprotein bacterioopsin (bO). This suggests a simple ligand-binding model of proton transport in bacteriorhodopsin which may have relevance to other transport and signal transducing membrane proteins including the visual photoreceptor rhodopsin.
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Affiliation(s)
- G J Ludlam
- Department of Physics, Molecular Biophysics Laboratory, Boston University, MA 02215, USA
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29
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Pogozheva ID, Lomize AL, Mosberg HI. The transmembrane 7-alpha-bundle of rhodopsin: distance geometry calculations with hydrogen bonding constraints. Biophys J 1997; 72:1963-85. [PMID: 9129801 PMCID: PMC1184393 DOI: 10.1016/s0006-3495(97)78842-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 121] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
A 3D model of the transmembrane 7-alpha-bundle of rhodopsin-like G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) was calculated using an iterative distance geometry refinement with an evolving system of hydrogen bonds, formed by intramembrane polar side chains in various proteins of the family and collectively applied as distance constraints. The alpha-bundle structure thus obtained provides H bonding of nearly all buried polar side chains simultaneously in the 410 GPCRs considered. Forty evolutionarily conserved GPCR residues form a single continuous domain, with an aliphatic "core" surrounded by six clusters of polar and aromatic side chains. The 7-alpha-bundle of a specific GPCR can be calculated using its own set of H bonds as distance constraints and the common "average" model to restrain positions of the helices. The bovine rhodopsin model thus determined is closely packed, but has a few small polar cavities, presumably filled by water, and has a binding pocket that is complementary to 11-cis (6-s-cis, 12-s-trans, C = N anti)-retinal or to all-trans-retinal, depending on conformations of the Lys296 and Trp265 side chains. A suggested mechanism of rhodopsin photoactivation, triggered by the cis-trans isomerization of retinal, involves rotations of Glu134, Tyr223, Trp265, Lys296, and Tyr306 side chains and rearrangement of their H bonds. The model is in agreement with published electron cryomicroscopy, mutagenesis, chemical modification, cross-linking, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, NMR, and optical spectroscopy data. The rhodopsin model and the published structure of bacteriorhodopsin have very similar retinal-binding pockets.
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Affiliation(s)
- I D Pogozheva
- College of Pharmacy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109, USA
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30
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Popp A, Ujj L, Atkinson GH. Bathorhodopsin structure in the room-temperature rhodopsin photosequence: picosecond time-resolved coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 1996; 93:372-6. [PMID: 8552641 PMCID: PMC40240 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.93.1.372] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Structural changes in the retinal chromophore during the formation of the bathorhodopsin intermediate (bathoRT) in the room-temperature rhodopsin (RhRT) photosequence (i.e., vision) are examined using picosecond time-resolved coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering. Specifically, the retinal structure assignable to bathoRT following 8-ps excitation of RhRT is measured via vibrational Raman spectroscopy at a 200-ps time delay where the only intermediate present is bathoRT. Significant differences are observed between the C=C stretching frequencies of the retinal chromophore at low temperature where bathorhodopsin is stabilized and at room temperature where bathorhodopsin is a transient species in the RhRT photosequence. These vibrational data are discussed in terms of the formation of bathoRT, an important step in the energy storage/transduction mechanism of RhRT.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Popp
- Department of Chemistry, University of Arizona, Tucson 85721, USA
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31
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Popp A, Ujj L, Atkinson GH. Vibrational spectra of room-temperature rhodopsin: concentration dependence in picosecond resonance coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering. Biophys Chem 1995; 56:129-35. [PMID: 7662861 DOI: 10.1016/0301-4622(95)00024-r] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
The vibrational degrees of freedom of room-temperature rhodopsin (RhRT), the central trans-membrane protein in vision, are measured at room temperature by picosecond resonance coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (PR/CARS). High signal-to-noise PR/CARS data for the ethylenic stretching, Schiff base, and hydrogen-out-of-plane modes of the retinal chromophore are quantitatively analyzed via third-order susceptibility relationships. The accurate determination of spectral features permit the PR/CARS bandshapes to be analyzed as a function of RhRT concentration, an essential factor in using picosecond time-resolved CARS techniques to measure the vibrational spectroscopy of picosecond intermediates in the RhRT photosequence. Of particular importance is the recognition that PR/CARS bandshapes are sensitive functions of both the chromophore concentration and the excitation wavelength, as measured relative to the absorption spectra of specific chromophores (static and transient).
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Affiliation(s)
- A Popp
- Department of Chemistry, University of Arizona, Tucson 85721, USA
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32
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Affiliation(s)
- F Siebert
- Institute of Biophysics and Radiation Biology, University of Freiburg, Germany
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33
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Rath P, Bovee-Geurts PH, DeGrip WJ, Rothschild KJ. Photoactivation of rhodopsin involves alterations in cysteine side chains: detection of an S-H band in the Meta I-->Meta II FTIR difference spectrum. Biophys J 1994; 66:2085-91. [PMID: 8075342 PMCID: PMC1275934 DOI: 10.1016/s0006-3495(94)81003-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
FTIR difference spectroscopy has been used to study the role of cysteine residues in the photoactivation of rhodopsin. A positive band near 2550 cm-1 with a low frequency shoulder is detected during rhodopsin photobleaching, which is assigned on the basis of its frequency and isotope shift to the S-H stretching mode of one or more cysteine residues. Time-resolved studies at low temperature show that the intensity of this band correlates with the formation and decay kinetics of the Meta II intermediate. Modification of rhodopsin with the reagent NEM, which selectively reacts with the SH groups of Cys-140 and Cys-316 on the cytoplasmic surface of rhodopsin, has no effect on the appearance of this band. Four other cysteine residues are also unlikely to contribute to this band because they are either thio-palmitylated (Cys-322 and Cys-323) or form a disulfide bond (Cys-110 and Cys-187). On this basis, it is likely that at least one of the four remaining cysteine residues in rhodopsin is structurally active during rhodopsin photoactivation. The possibility is also considered that this band arises from a transient cleavage of the disulfide bond between cysteine residues 110 and 187.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Rath
- Department of Physics, Boston University, Massachusetts 02215
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34
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Deng H, Huang L, Callender R, Ebrey T. Evidence for a bound water molecule next to the retinal Schiff base in bacteriorhodopsin and rhodopsin: a resonance Raman study of the Schiff base hydrogen/deuterium exchange. Biophys J 1994; 66:1129-36. [PMID: 8038384 PMCID: PMC1275819 DOI: 10.1016/s0006-3495(94)80893-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
The retinal chromophores of both rhodopsin and bacteriorhodopsin are bound to their apoproteins via a protonated Schiff base. We have employed continuous-flow resonance Raman experiments on both pigments to determine that the exchange of a deuteron on the Schiff base with a proton is very fast, with half-times of 6.9 +/- 0.9 and 1.3 +/- 0.3 ms for rhodopsin and bacteriorhodopsin, respectively. When these results are analyzed using standard hydrogen-deuteron exchange mechanisms, i.e., acid-, base-, or water-catalyzed schemes, it is found that none of these can explain the experimental results. Because the exchange rates are found to be independent of pH, the deuterium-hydrogen exchange can not be hydroxyl (or acid-)-catalyzed. Moreover, the deuterium-hydrogen exchange of the retinal Schiff base cannot be catalyzed by water acting as a base because in that case the estimated exchange rate is predicted to be orders of magnitude slower than that observed. The relatively slow calculated exchange rates are essentially due to the high pKa values of the Schiff base in both rhodopsin (pKa > 17) and bacteriorhodopsin (pKa approximately 13.5). We have also measured the deuterium-hydrogen exchange of a protonated Schiff base model compound in aqueous solution. Its exchange characteristics, in contrast to the Schiff bases of the pigments, is pH-dependent and consistent with the standard base-catalyzed schemes. Remarkably, the water-catalyzed exchange, which has a half-time of 16 +/- 2 ms and which dominates at pH 3.0 and below, is slower than the exchange rate of the Schiff base in rhodopsin and bacteriorhodopsin. Thus, there are two anomalous results, the inconsistency of the observed hydrogen exchange rates of retinal Schiff base in the two pigments with those predicted from the standard exchange schemes and the enhancement of the rate of hydrogen exchange in the two proteins over the model Schiff base in aqueous solution. We suggest that these results are explained by the presence of a structural water molecule (or molecules) at the retinal binding sites of the two pigments, quite close, probably-hydrogen bonded, to the Schiff base proton. In this case, the rate of exchange can be faster than that found for the model compound due to an "effective water concentration" near the Schiff base that is increased from that found in aqueous solution.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Deng
- Department of Physics, City College of the City University of New York, New York 10031
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35
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Fahmy K, Jäger F, Beck M, Zvyaga TA, Sakmar TP, Siebert F. Protonation states of membrane-embedded carboxylic acid groups in rhodopsin and metarhodopsin II: a Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy study of site-directed mutants. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 1993; 90:10206-10. [PMID: 7901852 PMCID: PMC47743 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.90.21.10206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 204] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
A method was developed to measure Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) difference spectra of detergent-solubilized rhodopsin expressed in COS cells. Experiments were performed on native bovine rhodopsin, rhodopsin expressed in COS cells, and three expressed rhodopsin mutants with amino acid replacements of membrane-embedded carboxylic acid groups: Asp-83-->Asn (D83N), Glu-122-->Gln (E122Q), and the double mutant D83N/E122Q. Each of the mutant opsins bound 11-cis-retinal to yield a visible light-absorbing pigment. Upon illumination, each of the mutant pigments formed a metarhodopsin II-like species with maximal absorption at 380 nm that was able to activate guanine nucleotide exchange by transducin. Rhodopsin versus metarhodopsin II-like photoproduct FTIR-difference spectra were recorded for each sample. The COS-cell rhodopsin and mutant difference spectra showed close correspondence to that of rhodopsin from disc membranes. Difference bands (rhodopsin/metarhodopsin II) at 1767/1750 cm-1 and at 1734/1745 cm-1 were absent from the spectra of mutants D83N and E122Q, respectively. Both bands were absent from the spectrum of the double mutant D83N/E122Q. These results show that Asp-83 and Glu-122 are protonated both in rhodopsin and in metarhodopsin II, in agreement with the isotope effects observed in spectra measured in 2H2O. A photoproduct band at 1712 cm-1 was not affected by either single or double replacements at positions 83 and 122. We deduce that the 1712 cm-1 band arises from the protonation of Glu-113 in metarhodopsin II.
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Affiliation(s)
- K Fahmy
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10021
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36
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Han M, DeDecker BS, Smith SO. Localization of the retinal protonated Schiff base counterion in rhodopsin. Biophys J 1993; 65:899-906. [PMID: 8105993 PMCID: PMC1225790 DOI: 10.1016/s0006-3495(93)81117-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 99] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Semiempirical molecular orbital calculations are combined with 13C NMR chemical shifts to localize the counterion in the retinal binding site of vertebrate rhodopsin. Charge densities along the polyene chain are calculated for an 11-cis-retinylidene protonated Schiff base (11-cis-RPSB) chromophore with 1) a chloride counterion at various distances from the Schiff base nitrogen, 2) one or two chloride counterions at different positions along the retinal chain from C10 to C15 and at the Schiff base nitrogen, and 3) a carboxylate counterion out of the retinal plane near C12. Increasing the distance of the negative counterion from the Schiff base results in an enhancement of alternating negative and positive partial charge on the even- and odd-numbered carbons, respectively, when compared to the 11-cis-RPSB chloride model compound. In contrast, the observed 13C NMR data of rhodopsin exhibit downfield chemical shifts from C8 to C13 relative to the 11-cis-RPSB.Cl corresponding to a net increase of partial positive or decrease of partial negative charge at these positions (Smith, S. O., I. Palings, M. E. Miley, J. Courtin, H. de Groot, J. Lugtenburg, R. A. Mathies, and R. G. Griffin. 1990. Biochemistry. 29:8158-8164). The anomalous changes in charge density reflected in the rhodopsin NMR chemical shifts can be qualitatively modeled by placing a single negative charge above C12. The calculated fit improves when a carboxylate counterion is used to model the retinal binding site. Inclusion of water in the model does not alter the fit to the NMR data, although it is consistent with observations based on other methods. These data constrain the location and the orientation of the Glu113 side chain, which is known to be the counterion in rhodopsin, and argue for a strong interaction centered at C12 of the retinylidene chain.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Han
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06511
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37
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Masuda S, Morita EH, Tasumi M, Iwasa T, Tsuda M. Infrared studies of octopus rhodopsin and lumirhodopsin. J Mol Struct 1993. [DOI: 10.1016/0022-2860(93)80155-o] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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38
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Mizukami T, Kandori H, Shichida Y, Chen AH, Derguini F, Caldwell CG, Biffe CF, Nakanishi K, Yoshizawa T. Photoisomerization mechanism of the rhodopsin chromophore: picosecond photolysis of pigment containing 11-cis-locked eight-membered ring retinal. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 1993; 90:4072-6. [PMID: 8483923 PMCID: PMC46448 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.90.9.4072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
The primary photochemical event in rhodopsin is an 11-cis to 11-trans photoisomerization of its retinylidene chromophore to form the primary intermediate photorhodopsin. Earlier picosecond studies have shown that no intermediate is formed when the retinal 11-ene is fixed through a bridging five-membered ring, whereas a photorhodopsin-like intermediate is formed when it is fixed through a flexible seven-membered ring. Results from a rhodopsin analog formed from a retinal with locked 11-ene structure through the more flexible eight-membered ring (Ret8) are described. Incubation of bovine opsin with Ret8 formed two pigments absorbing at 425 nm (P425) and 500 nm (P500). P425, however, is an artifact because it formed from thermally denatured opsin or other proteins and Ret8. Excitation of P500 with a picosecond green pulse led to formation of two intermediates corresponding to photo- and bathorhodopsins. These results demonstrate that an appearance of early intermediates is dependent on the flexibility of the 11-ene and that the photoisomerization of P500 proceeds by stepwise changes of chromophore-protein interaction, which in turn leads to a relaxation of the highly twisted all-trans-retinylidene chromophore in photorhodopsin.
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Affiliation(s)
- T Mizukami
- Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Science, Kyoto University, Japan
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39
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Masuda S, Morita EH, Tasumi M, Iwasa T, Tsuda M. Infrared studies of octopus rhodopsin. Existence of a long-lived intermediate and the states of the carboxylic group of Asp-81 in rhodopsin and its photoproducts. FEBS Lett 1993; 317:223-7. [PMID: 8425608 DOI: 10.1016/0014-5793(93)81280-d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
The infrared absorption spectra of octopus rhodopsin and its photoproducts have been observed at 282K and 210K under irradiation of blue and orange light in a neutral condition. The acid metarhodopsin-minus-rhodopsin and lumirhodopsin-minus-rhodopsin difference spectra have been obtained. A new intermediate (called transient acid metarhodopsin) with a lifetime of about 5 s has been found to exist prior to acid metarhodopsin. The present results, together with the data obtained previously, give information on the state of the carboxylic group in the side chain of Asp-81, which is the only acidic amino-acid residue in the part of opsin buried inside the membrane. This carboxylic group is protonated throughout the transformation series, but its state changes on going from transient acid metarhodopsin to acid metarhodopsin. It is probable that these two photoproducts are different from each other only in the opsin moiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Masuda
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Tokyo, Japan
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40
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Sasaki J, Maeda A, Shichida Y, Groesbeek M, Lugtenburg J, Yoshizawa T. STRUCTURE OF HYPSORHODOPSIN: ANALYSIS BY FOURIER TRANSFORM INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY AT 10 K. Photochem Photobiol 1992. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1751-1097.1992.tb09730.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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41
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Olejnik J, Brzezinski B, Zundel G. A proton pathway with large proton polarizability and the proton pumping mechanism in bacteriorhodopsin — Fourier transform difference spectra of photoproducts of bacteriorhodopsin and of its pentademethyl analogue. J Mol Struct 1992. [DOI: 10.1016/0022-2860(92)80123-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
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42
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Abstract
Much progress has been made in recent years toward understanding the interactions between various proteins responsible for visual transduction which are initiated by an activated state of visual pigments. However, the changes which take place in the visual pigments themselves to convert them to the activated state are more poorly understood. Many spectroscopic techniques have been applied to this problem in recent years and considerable progress has been made. A major goal of these efforts is to understand at which stages protein change occurs and to characterize its structural features. In the visual system evidence is accumulating, for example, that chromophore independent protein change begins immediately prior to lumirhodopsin formation. Considerable insight has been gained recently into the early intermediates of visual transduction and the stage is set to achieve similar understanding of the later intermediates leading to rhodopsin's activated state.
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Affiliation(s)
- J W Lewis
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Cruz 95064
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43
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Rothschild KJ. FTIR difference spectroscopy of bacteriorhodopsin: toward a molecular model. J Bioenerg Biomembr 1992; 24:147-67. [PMID: 1526959 DOI: 10.1007/bf00762674] [Citation(s) in RCA: 258] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Bacteriorhodopsin (bR) is a light-driven proton pump whose function includes two key membrane-based processes, active transport and energy transduction. Despite extensive research on bR and other membrane proteins, these processes are not fully understood on the molecular level. In the past ten years, the introduction of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) difference spectroscopy along with related techniques including time-resolved FTIR difference spectroscopy, polarized FTIR, and attenuated total reflection FTIR has provided a new approach for studying these processes. A key step has been the utilization of site-directed mutagenesis to assign bands in the FTIR difference spectrum to the vibrations of individual amino acid residues. On this basis, detailed information has been obtained about structural changes involving the retinylidene chromophore and protein during the bR photocycle. This includes a determination of the protonation state of the four membrane-embedded Asp residues, identification of specific structurally active amino acid residues, and the detection of protein secondary structural changes. This information is being used to develop an increasingly detailed picture of the bR proton pump mechanism.
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Affiliation(s)
- K J Rothschild
- Department of Physics, Boston University, Massachusetts 02215
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44
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Lewis JW, Kliger DS. Rotational diffusion effects on absorbance measurements: limitations to the magic-angle approach. Photochem Photobiol 1991; 54:963-8. [PMID: 1775534 DOI: 10.1111/j.1751-1097.1991.tb02117.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Optical absorbance changes are commonly used to characterize intermediates which appear in the bleaching sequence of rhodopsin and in the photocycle of bacteriorhodopsin. Absorbance changes can be caused by an intermediate's rotational diffusion, and when this occurs it can distort absorbance changes due to the structural evolution of intermediates. Linear polarization of an optical probe source at 54.7 degrees (the magic angle) relative to the polarization direction of a linearly polarized actinic source has often been used to eliminate signals due to rotational diffusion. We used Jones calculus to investigate the validity of the magic-angle strategy. Taylor expansion of the result in powers of the absorbances of the bleached ground state and of the intermediates leads to a relatively simple expression which can be used to determine whether rotational contributions are likely under various experimental conditions. This expression shows that in first order no dichroism-dependent term appears in the absorbance measured at magic angle. In second order, however, linear dichroism contributes to signals. For the sequence of rhodopsin intermediates: rhodopsin hv----bathorhodopsin in equilibrium BSI----lumirhodopsin, where BSI is a recently discovered blue-shifted intermediate, we determined the magnitude of the dichroism signals to be, on average, less than 2% of the true absorbance change due to the intermediates themselves (and hence undetectable). Freedom from dichroism artifacts in this case results from the fact that the transition dipoles of these intermediates are similar to that of rhodopsin. Larger and certainly detectable dichroism signals are predicted to occur, even at the magic angle, for later intermediates which have transition dipole moments which differ significantly from that of rhodopsin.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Affiliation(s)
- J W Lewis
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Santa Cruz 95064
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45
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Kishigami A, Sekiya N, Yoshihara K, Hara R, Hara T, Tokunaga F. SPECTROSCOPIC STUDIES ON THE STRUCTURES OF RETINOCHROME and METARETINOCHROME. Photochem Photobiol 1991. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1751-1097.1991.tb02121.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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46
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Chang CW, Sekiya N, Yoshihara K. O-H stretching vibration in Fourier transform difference infrared spectra of bacteriorhodopsin. FEBS Lett 1991; 287:157-9. [PMID: 1879524 DOI: 10.1016/0014-5793(91)80039-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
FTIR difference spectroscopic studies of M intermediate and LA bacteriorhodopsin in the O-H stretching region show bands at 3671 and 3641 cm-1, respectively. The O-H stretching bands in this region may reflect protonation-deprotonation changes or environmental change in the tyrosine residues in bR.
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Affiliation(s)
- C W Chang
- Suntory Institute for Bioorganic Research, Osaka, Japan
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47
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Smith SO, Courtin J, de Groot H, Gebhard R, Lugtenburg J. 13C magic-angle spinning NMR studies of bathorhodopsin, the primary photoproduct of rhodopsin. Biochemistry 1991; 30:7409-15. [PMID: 1649627 DOI: 10.1021/bi00244a007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 103] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Magic-angle spinning NMR spectra have been obtained of the bathorhodopsin photointermediate trapped at low temperature (less than 130 K) by using isorhodopsin samples regenerated with retinal specifically 13C-labeled at positions 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15. Comparison of the chemical shifts of the bathorhodopsin resonances with those of an all-trans-retinal protonated Schiff base (PSB) chloride salt show the largest difference (6.2 ppm) at position 13 of the protein-bound retinal. Small differences in chemical shift between bathorhodopsin and the all-trans PSB model compound are also observed at positions 10, 11, and 12. The effects are almost equal in magnitude to those previously observed in rhodopsin and isorhodopsin. Consequently, the energy stored in the primary photoproduct bathorhodopsin does not give rise to any substantial change in the average electron density at the labeled positions. The data indicate that the electronic and structural properties of the protein environment are similar to those in rhodopsin and isorhodopsin. In particular, a previously proposed perturbation near position 13 of the retinal appears not to change its position significantly with respect to the chromophore upon isomerization. The data effectively exclude charge separation between the chromophore and a protein residue as the main mechanism for energy storage in the primary photoproduct and argue that the light energy is stored in the form of distortions of the bathorhodopsin chromophore.
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Affiliation(s)
- S O Smith
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06511
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48
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Sekiya N, Kishigami A, Naoki H, Chang CW, Yoshihara K, Hara R, Hara T, Tokunaga F. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic study on retinochrome and its primary photoproduct, lumiretinochrome. FEBS Lett 1991; 280:107-11. [PMID: 2009953 DOI: 10.1016/0014-5793(91)80215-o] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Structural studies of retinochrome, and its photoproduct, lumiretinochrome, were done by Fourier transform infrared difference spectroscopy. The absorption bands in the carbonyl stretching region which shift in D2O show the changes in the protein part during the photoreaction. Strong absorption bands in the finger-print region show that the all-trans-retinal chromophore in retinochrome isomerizes to the 11-cis-retinal chromophore in lumiretinochrome upon illumination with yellow-green light at 83K.
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Affiliation(s)
- N Sekiya
- Suntory Institute for Bioorganic Research, Osaka, Japan
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49
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Ganter UM, Longstaff C, Pajares MA, Rando RR, Siebert F. Fourier transform infrared studies of active-site-methylated rhodopsin. Implications for chromophore-protein interaction, transducin activation, and the reaction pathway. Biophys J 1991; 59:640-4. [PMID: 2049524 PMCID: PMC1281228 DOI: 10.1016/s0006-3495(91)82279-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Fourier transform infrared studies of active-site-methylated rhodopsin (ASMR) show that, as compared to unmodified rhodopsin, the photoreaction is almost unchanged up to the formation of lumirhodopsin. Especially, the deviations are much smaller than those observed for the corresponding intermediates of 13-desmethyl-rhodopsin. In metarhodopsin-I, larger alterations are present with respect to the three internal carboxyl groups. Similar deviations have been observed in meta-I of 13-desmethyl-rhodopsin. This indicates that, in agreement with our previous investigations, these carboxyl groups are located in close proximity to the chromophore. Because this latter pigment is capable, when bleached, of activating transducin, our data provide support for the earlier conclusion that deprotonation of the Schiff base is a prerequisite for transducin activation. The positions of the C = C and C - C stretching modes of the retinal suggest that the redshift observed in ASMR and its photoproducts can be explained by an increased distance of the Schiff base from the counterion(s). It is further shown that the photoreaction does not stop at metarhodopsin-I, but that this intermediate directly decays to a metarhodopsin-III-like species.
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Affiliation(s)
- U M Ganter
- Institut für Biophysik Und Strahlenbiologie, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Federal Republic of Germany
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50
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Foster KW, Saranak J, Dowben PA. Spectral sensitivity, structure and activation of eukaryotic rhodopsins: activation spectroscopy of rhodopsin analogs in Chlamydomonas. JOURNAL OF PHOTOCHEMISTRY AND PHOTOBIOLOGY. B, BIOLOGY 1991; 8:385-408. [PMID: 1828501 DOI: 10.1016/1011-1344(91)80114-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Retinal normally binds opsin forming the chromophore of the visual pigment, rhodopsin. In this investigation synthetic analogs were bound by the opsin of living cells of the alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii; the effect was assayed by phototaxis to give an activation spectrum for each rhodopsin analog. The results show the influence of different chromophores and the protein on the absorption of light. The maxima of the phototaxis action spectra shifted systematically with the number of double bonds conjugated with the imine (C = N+H) bond of the chromophore. Chromophores lacking a beta-ionone ring, methyl groups and all C = C double bonds photoactivated the rhodopsin of Chlamydomonas with normal efficiency. On the basis of a simple model involving one-electron transitions between occupied and virtual molecular orbitals, we estimate the charge distribution along the chromophore in the binding site. With this restraint we define a unique structural model for eukaryotic rhodopsins and explain the spectral clustering of pigments, the spectral differences between red and green rhodopsins and the molecular basis of color blindness. Our results are consistent with the triggering of the activation of rhodopsin by the light-mediated change in electric dipole moment rather than the steric cis-trans isomerization of the chromophore.
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Affiliation(s)
- K W Foster
- Department of Physics, Syracuse University, NY 13244-1130
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