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Updated: Aug 30, 2026

Determination of Photoreceptor Cell Spectral Sensitivity in an Insect Model from In Vivo Intracellular Recordings
Published on: February 26, 2016
Evolutionary analysis of rhodopsin and cone pigments: connecting the three-dimensional structure with spectral tuning
David C Teller1, Ronald E Stenkamp, Krzysztof Palczewski
1Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. teller@u.washington.edu
Abstract:
Extensive sequence data and structural sampling of expressed proteins from different species lead to the idea that entire molecules or specific domain folds belong to large superfamilies of proteins. A subset of G protein-coupled receptors, one of the largest families involved in cellular signaling, rod and cone opsins are involved in phototransduction in photoreceptor cells. Here, the evolutionary analysis of opsin sequences and structures predicts key residues involved in the transmission of the signal from the binding site of the chromophore to the cytoplasmic surface and residues that are involved in the spectral tuning of opsins to short wavelengths of light.
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