The photochemical determinants of color vision: revealing how opsins tune their chromophore's absorption wavelength.

ABSTRACT: The evolution of a variety of important chromophore-dependent biological processes, including microbial light sensing and mammalian color vision, relies on protein modifications that alter the spectral characteristics of a bound chromophore. Three different color opsins share the same chromophore, but have three distinct absorptions that together cover the entire visible spectrum, giving rise to trichromatic vision. The influence of opsins on the absorbance of the chromophore has been studied through methods such as model compounds, opsin mutagenesis, and computational modeling. The recent development of rhodopsin mimic that uses small soluble proteins to recapitulate the binding and wavelength tuning of the native opsins provides a new platform for studying protein-regulated spectral tuni

SUBMITTER: Wang W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4104663 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature