Biochemistry 2013 Jul 30;5230:5084-91. doi: 10.1021/bi400490g.

A conserved aromatic residue regulating photosensitivity in short-wavelength sensitive cone visual pigments.

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Visual pigments have a conserved phenylalanine in transmembrane helix 5 located near the β-ionone ring of the retinal chromophore. Site-directed mutants of this residue (F207) in a short-wavelength sensitive visual pigment (VCOP) were studied using UV-visible spectroscopy to investigate its role in photosensitivity and formation of the light-activated state. The side chain is important for pigment formation: VCOP(F207A), VCOP(F207L), VCOP(F207M), and VCOP(F207W) substitutions all bound 11-cis-retinal and formed a stable visual pigment, while VCOP(F207V), VCOP(F207S), VCOP(F207T), and VCOP(F207Y) substitutions do not. The extinction coefficients of all pigments are close, ranging between 35800 and 45600 M⁻¹ cm⁻¹. Remarkably, the mutants exhibit an up to 5-fold reduction in photosensitivity and also abnormal photobleaching behavior. One mutant, VCOP(F207A), forms an isomeric composition of the retinal chromophore after illumination comparable to that of wild-type VCOP yet does not release the all-trans-retinal chromophore. These findings suggest that the conserved F207 residue is important for a normal photoactivation pathway, formation of the active conformation and the exit of all-trans-retinal from the chromophore-binding pocket.

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???displayArticle.link??? Biochemistry
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