IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v7y2016i1d10.1038_ncomms12683.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Retinal orientation and interactions in rhodopsin reveal a two-stage trigger mechanism for activation

Author

Listed:
  • Naoki Kimata

    (Stony Brook University)

  • Andreyah Pope

    (Stony Brook University)

  • Markus Eilers

    (Stony Brook University)

  • Chikwado A. Opefi

    (School of Biological Sciences, University of Essex)

  • Martine Ziliox

    (Stony Brook University)

  • Amiram Hirshfeld

    (Weizmann Institute)

  • Ekaterina Zaitseva

    (University of Freiburg, Institute of Physiology II)

  • Reiner Vogel

    (Biophysics Section, Institute of Molecular Medicine and Cell Research, Albert-Ludwigs-University)

  • Mordechai Sheves

    (Weizmann Institute)

  • Philip J. Reeves

    (School of Biological Sciences, University of Essex)

  • Steven O. Smith

    (Stony Brook University)

Abstract

The 11-cis retinal chromophore is tightly packed within the interior of the visual receptor rhodopsin and isomerizes to the all-trans configuration following absorption of light. The mechanism by which this isomerization event drives the outward rotation of transmembrane helix H6, a hallmark of activated G protein-coupled receptors, is not well established. To address this question, we use solid-state NMR and FTIR spectroscopy to define the orientation and interactions of the retinal chromophore in the active metarhodopsin II intermediate. Here we show that isomerization of the 11-cis retinal chromophore generates strong steric interactions between its β-ionone ring and transmembrane helices H5 and H6, while deprotonation of its protonated Schiff’s base triggers the rearrangement of the hydrogen-bonding network involving residues on H6 and within the second extracellular loop. We integrate these observations with previous structural and functional studies to propose a two-stage mechanism for rhodopsin activation.

Suggested Citation

  • Naoki Kimata & Andreyah Pope & Markus Eilers & Chikwado A. Opefi & Martine Ziliox & Amiram Hirshfeld & Ekaterina Zaitseva & Reiner Vogel & Mordechai Sheves & Philip J. Reeves & Steven O. Smith, 2016. "Retinal orientation and interactions in rhodopsin reveal a two-stage trigger mechanism for activation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 1-10, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms12683
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms12683
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms12683
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/ncomms12683?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms12683. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.