Organisms of all domains of life use photoreceptor proteins to sense and respond to light.
The light-sensitivity of photoreceptor proteins arises from bound chromophores such as …

SUMMARY A comprehensive classification system for transmembrane molecular
transporters has been developed and recently approved by the transport panel of the …

▪ Abstract Retinylidene proteins, containing seven membrane-embedded α-helices that form
an internal pocket in which the chromophore retinal is bound, are ubiquitous in …

In the late 1970s, on the basis of rRNA phylogeny, Archaea (archaebacteria) was identified
as a distinct domain of life besides Bacteria (eubacteria) and Eucarya. Though forming a …

The high resolution structures now available for mitochondrial ATPase (1) and mammalian
and bacterial cytochrome c oxidases (2, 3) have raised hopes that the long sought …

Ion pumps are membrane proteins that actively translocate ions by using energy. All known
pumps bind ions in the resting state, and external energy allows ion transport through …

The precise co-localization and stoichiometric expression of two different light-gated
membrane proteins can vastly improve the physiological usefulness of optogenetics for the …

Absorption changes in the photocycle of the recently described retinal protein,
proteorhodopsin, are analyzed. The transient spectra at pH 9.5, where it acts as a light …

Halorhodopsin, a light-driven halide pump, is the second archaeal rhodopsin involved in ion
pumping to be studied at high resolution by X-ray crystallography. Like its cousin …

Light-driven ion-pumping rhodopsins are widely distributed in microorganisms and are now
classified into the categories of outward H+ and Na+ pumps and an inward Cl− pump. These …