Abnormal photoresponses and light-induced apoptosis in rods lacking rhodopsin kinase

Phosphorylation is thought to be an essential first step in the prompt deactivation of photoexcited rhodopsin. In vitro, the phosphorylation can be catalyzed either by rhodopsin kinase (RK) or by protein kinase C (PKC). To investigate the specific role of RK, we inactivated both alleles of the RK gene in mice. This eliminated the light-dependent phosphorylation of rhodopsin and caused the single-photon response to become larger and longer lasting than normal. These results demonstrate that RK is required for normal rhodopsin deactivation. When the photon responses of RK−/− rods did finally turn off, they did so abruptly and stochastically, revealing a first-order backup mechanism for rhodopsin deactivation. The rod outer segments of RK−/− mice raised in 12-hr cyclic illumination were 50% shorter than those of normal (RK+/+) rods or rods from RK−/− mice raised in constant darkness. One day of constant light caused the rods in the RK−/− mouse retina to undergo apoptotic degeneration. Mice lacking RK provide a valuable model for the study of Oguchi disease, a human RK deficiency that causes congenital stationary night blindness.

Light-activated rhodopsin induces structural binding motif in G protein α subunit

A large superfamily of transmembrane receptors control cellular responses to diverse extracellular signals by catalyzing activation of specific types of heterotrimeric GTP-binding proteins. How these receptors recognize and promote nucleotide exchange on G protein α subunits to initiate signal amplification is unknown. The three-dimensional structure of the transducin (Gt) α subunit C-terminal undecapeptide Gtα(340–350) IKENLKDCGLF was determined by transferred nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy while it was bound to photoexcited rhodopsin. Light activation of rhodopsin causes a dramatic shift from a disordered conformation of Gtα(340–350) to a binding motif with a helical turn followed by an open reverse turn centered at Gly-348, a helix-terminating C capping motif of an αL type. Docking of the NMR structure to the GDP-bound x-ray structure of Gt reveals that photoexcited rhodopsin promotes the formation of a continuous helix over residues 325–346 terminated by the C-terminal helical cap with a unique cluster of crucial hydrophobic side chains. A molecular mechanism by which activated receptors can control G proteins through reversible conformational changes at the receptor–G protein interface is demonstrated.

Femtosecond cluster studies of the solvated 7-azaindole excited state double-proton transfer

Presented here are femtosecond pump-probe studies on the water-solvated 7-azaindole dimer, a model DNA base pair. In particular, studies are presented that further elucidate the nature of the reactive and nonreactive dimers and also provide new insights establishing that the excited state double-proton transfer in the dimer occurs in a stepwise rather than a concerted manner. A major question addressed is whether the incorporation of a water molecule with the dimer results in the formation of species that are unable to undergo excited state double-proton transfer, as suggested by a recent study reported in the literature [Nakajima, A., Hirano, M., Hasumi, R., Kaya, K., Watanabe, H., Carter, C. C., Williamson, J. M. & Miller, T. (1997) J. Phys. Chem. 101, 392–398]. In contrast to this earlier work, our present findings reveal that both reactive and nonreactive dimers can coexist in the molecular beam under the same experimental conditions and definitively show that the clustering of water does not induce the formation of the nonreactive dimer. Rather, when present with a species already determined to be a nonreactive dimer, the addition of water can actually facilitate the occurrence of the proton transfer reaction. Furthermore, on attaining a critical hydration number, the data for the nonreactive dimer suggest a solvation-induced conformational structure change leading to proton transfer on the photoexcited half of the 7-azaindole dimer.

Long-time quantum simulation of the primary charge separation in bacterial photosynthesis.

Accurate quantum mechanical simulations of the primary charge transfer in photosynthetic reaction centers are reported. The process is modeled by three coupled electronic states corresponding to the photoexcited chlorophyll special pair (donor), the reduced bacteriopheophytin (acceptor), and the reduced accessory chlorophyll (bridge) that interact with a dissipative medium of protein and solvent degrees of freedom. The time evolution of the excited special pair is followed over 17 ps by using a fully quantum mechanical path integral scheme. We find that a free energy of the reduced accessory chlorophyll state approximately equal to 400 cm(-1) lower than that of the excited special pair state yields state populations in agreement with experimental results on wild-type and modified reaction centers. For this energetic configuration electron transfer is a two-step process.

How photons start vision.

Recent studies have elucidated how the absorption of a photon in a rod or cone cell leads to the generation of the amplified neural signal that is transmitted to higher-order visual neurons. Photoexcited visual pigment activates the GTP-binding protein transducin, which in turn stimulates cGMP phosphodiesterase. This enzyme hydrolyzes cGMP, allowing cGMP-gated cationic channels in the surface membrane to close, hyperpolarize the cell, and modulate transmitter release at the synaptic terminal. The kinetics of reactions in the cGMP cascade limit the temporal resolution of the visual system as a whole, while statistical fluctuations in the reactions limit the reliability of detection of dim light. Much interest now focuses on the processes that terminate the light response and dynamically regulate amplification in the cascade, causing the single photon response to be reproducible and allowing the cell to adapt in background light. A light-induced fall in the internal free Ca2+ concentration coordinates negative feedback control of amplification. The fall in Ca2+ stimulates resynthesis of cGMP, antagonizes rhodopsin's catalytic activity, and increases the affinity of the light-regulated cationic channel for cGMP. We are using physiological methods to study the molecular mechanisms that terminate the flash response and mediate adaptation. One approach is to observe transduction in truncated, dialyzed photoreceptor cells whose internal Ca2+ and nucleotide concentrations are under experimental control and to which exogenous proteins can be added. Another approach is to observe transduction in transgenic mouse rods in which specific proteins within the cascade are altered or deleted.