Spontaneous activation of visual pigments in relation to openness/closedness of chromophore-binding pocket
Visual pigments can be spontaneously activated by internal thermal energy, generating noise that interferes with real-light detection. Recently, we developed a physicochemical theory that successfully predicts the rate of spontaneous activity of representative rod and cone pigments from their peak-a...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2017-02-01
|
| Series: | eLife |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/18492 |
| _version_ | 1828168843481055232 |
|---|---|
| author | Wendy Wing Sze Yue Rikard Frederiksen Xiaozhi Ren Dong-Gen Luo Takahiro Yamashita Yoshinori Shichida M Carter Cornwall King-Wai Yau |
| author_facet | Wendy Wing Sze Yue Rikard Frederiksen Xiaozhi Ren Dong-Gen Luo Takahiro Yamashita Yoshinori Shichida M Carter Cornwall King-Wai Yau |
| author_sort | Wendy Wing Sze Yue |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Visual pigments can be spontaneously activated by internal thermal energy, generating noise that interferes with real-light detection. Recently, we developed a physicochemical theory that successfully predicts the rate of spontaneous activity of representative rod and cone pigments from their peak-absorption wavelength (λmax), with pigments having longer λmax being noisier. Interestingly, cone pigments may generally be ~25 fold noisier than rod pigments of the same λmax, possibly ascribed to an ‘open’ chromophore-binding pocket in cone pigments defined by the capability of chromophore-exchange in darkness. Here, we show in mice that the λmax-dependence of pigment noise could be extended even to a mutant pigment, E122Q-rhodopsin. Moreover, although E122Q-rhodopsin shows some cone-pigment-like characteristics, its noise remained quantitatively predictable by the ‘non-open’ nature of its chromophore-binding pocket as in wild-type rhodopsin. The openness/closedness of the chromophore-binding pocket is potentially a useful indicator of whether a pigment is intended for detecting dim or bright light. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T02:41:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e6d207a486b1491e8aef19639526b305 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T02:41:26Z |
| publishDate | 2017-02-01 |
| publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | eLife |
| spelling | doaj.art-e6d207a486b1491e8aef19639526b3052022-12-22T03:51:18ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2017-02-01610.7554/eLife.18492Spontaneous activation of visual pigments in relation to openness/closedness of chromophore-binding pocketWendy Wing Sze Yue0Rikard Frederiksen1Xiaozhi Ren2Dong-Gen Luo3Takahiro Yamashita4Yoshinori Shichida5M Carter Cornwall6King-Wai Yau7https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8880-3091Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, United States; Center for Sensory Biology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, United States; Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology Graduate Program, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, United StatesDepartment of Physiology and Biophysics, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, United StatesSolomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, United States; Center for Sensory Biology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, United StatesState Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Peking University, Beijing, China; McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, China; Center for Quantitative Biology, Peking University, Beijing, China; Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Beijing, China; College of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, ChinaDepartment of Biophysics, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto, JapanDepartment of Biophysics, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto, JapanDepartment of Physiology and Biophysics, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, United StatesSolomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, United States; Center for Sensory Biology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, United States; Department of Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, United StatesVisual pigments can be spontaneously activated by internal thermal energy, generating noise that interferes with real-light detection. Recently, we developed a physicochemical theory that successfully predicts the rate of spontaneous activity of representative rod and cone pigments from their peak-absorption wavelength (λmax), with pigments having longer λmax being noisier. Interestingly, cone pigments may generally be ~25 fold noisier than rod pigments of the same λmax, possibly ascribed to an ‘open’ chromophore-binding pocket in cone pigments defined by the capability of chromophore-exchange in darkness. Here, we show in mice that the λmax-dependence of pigment noise could be extended even to a mutant pigment, E122Q-rhodopsin. Moreover, although E122Q-rhodopsin shows some cone-pigment-like characteristics, its noise remained quantitatively predictable by the ‘non-open’ nature of its chromophore-binding pocket as in wild-type rhodopsin. The openness/closedness of the chromophore-binding pocket is potentially a useful indicator of whether a pigment is intended for detecting dim or bright light.https://elifesciences.org/articles/18492visual pigmentspontaneous excitationretinal photoreceptorsvision |
| spellingShingle | Wendy Wing Sze Yue Rikard Frederiksen Xiaozhi Ren Dong-Gen Luo Takahiro Yamashita Yoshinori Shichida M Carter Cornwall King-Wai Yau Spontaneous activation of visual pigments in relation to openness/closedness of chromophore-binding pocket eLife visual pigment spontaneous excitation retinal photoreceptors vision |
| title | Spontaneous activation of visual pigments in relation to openness/closedness of chromophore-binding pocket |
| title_full | Spontaneous activation of visual pigments in relation to openness/closedness of chromophore-binding pocket |
| title_fullStr | Spontaneous activation of visual pigments in relation to openness/closedness of chromophore-binding pocket |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spontaneous activation of visual pigments in relation to openness/closedness of chromophore-binding pocket |
| title_short | Spontaneous activation of visual pigments in relation to openness/closedness of chromophore-binding pocket |
| title_sort | spontaneous activation of visual pigments in relation to openness closedness of chromophore binding pocket |
| topic | visual pigment spontaneous excitation retinal photoreceptors vision |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/18492 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT wendywingszeyue spontaneousactivationofvisualpigmentsinrelationtoopennessclosednessofchromophorebindingpocket AT rikardfrederiksen spontaneousactivationofvisualpigmentsinrelationtoopennessclosednessofchromophorebindingpocket AT xiaozhiren spontaneousactivationofvisualpigmentsinrelationtoopennessclosednessofchromophorebindingpocket AT donggenluo spontaneousactivationofvisualpigmentsinrelationtoopennessclosednessofchromophorebindingpocket AT takahiroyamashita spontaneousactivationofvisualpigmentsinrelationtoopennessclosednessofchromophorebindingpocket AT yoshinorishichida spontaneousactivationofvisualpigmentsinrelationtoopennessclosednessofchromophorebindingpocket AT mcartercornwall spontaneousactivationofvisualpigmentsinrelationtoopennessclosednessofchromophorebindingpocket AT kingwaiyau spontaneousactivationofvisualpigmentsinrelationtoopennessclosednessofchromophorebindingpocket |