Activation and regeneration of rhodopsin in the insect visual cycle - PubMed (original) (raw)

. 1994 Nov 25;266(5189):1369-73.

doi: 10.1126/science.7973725.

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Activation and regeneration of rhodopsin in the insect visual cycle

A Kiselev et al. Science. 1994.

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Abstract

Light absorption by rhodopsin generates metarhodopsin, which activates heterotrimeric guanine nucleotide-binding proteins (G proteins) in photoreceptor cells of vertebrates and invertebrates. In contrast to vertebrate metarhodopsins, most invertebrate metarhodopsins are thermally stable and regenerate rhodopsin by absorption of a second photon. In experiments with Rh1 Drosophila rhodopsin, the thermal stability of metarhodopsin was found not to be an intrinsic property of the visual pigment but a consequence of its interaction with arrestin (49 kilodaltons). The stabilization of metarhodopsin resulted in a large decrease in the efficiency of G protein activation. Light absorption by thermally stable metarhodopsin initially regenerated an inactive rhodopsin-like intermediate, which was subsequently converted in the dark to active rhodopsin. The accumulation of inactive rhodopsin at higher light levels may represent a mechanism for gain regulation in the insect visual cycle.

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