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Related Concept Videos

Phosphoinositides and PIPs01:42

Phosphoinositides and PIPs

Phosphoinositides are a group of phospholipids containing a glycerol backbone with two fatty acid chains and a phosphate attached to a myoinositol sugar ring. The inositol head group extends into the cytoplasm, where it is modified by adding phosphate groups to form phosphatidylinositol phosphates or PIPs.
Different phosphoinositides are synthesized and recruited on the cytosolic face of the plasma membrane. The localization of specific phosphoinositides concentrated in separate membrane...
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Flippase
Eukaryotic flippases are type-IV P-type ATPases or P4-ATPases belonging to P-type ATPase family proteins that are membrane-bound pumps involved in the ATP-mediated transport of ions and molecules across the membrane. Flippases flip specific phospholipids from the outer to the inner leaflet of a membrane. All P4-ATPases have one...
Photoreceptors and Visual Pathways01:22

Photoreceptors and Visual Pathways

At the molecular level, visual signals trigger transformations in photopigment molecules, resulting in changes in the photoreceptor cell's membrane potential. The photon's energy level is denoted by its wavelength, with each specific wavelength of visible light associated with a distinct color. The spectral range of visible light, classified as electromagnetic radiation, spans from 380 to 720 nm. Electromagnetic radiation wavelengths exceeding 720 nm fall under the infrared category, whereas...
G-Protein Gated Ion Channels01:21

G-Protein Gated Ion Channels

GPCRs are primarily responsible for our sense of smell, taste, and vision.  The binding of a sensory stimulus activates GPCR to stimulate effector proteins, many of which are ion channels in the sensory organs. GPCRs modulate the opening and closing of the target ion channels either directly by binding them, or by releasing second messengers that activate these channels. As ions move across the membrane, the membrane potential is altered, which induces an appropriate response.
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Channel Rhodopsins01:11

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Most organisms use photoreceptors to sense and respond to light. Examples of photoreceptors include bacteriorhodopsins and bacteriophytochromes in some bacteria, phytochromes in plants, and rhodopsins in the photoreceptor cells of the vertebral retina. The light-sensitive property of these receptors is because of the bound chromophores, such as bilin in the phytochromes and retinal in the rhodopsins.
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Protein Translocation Machinery on the ER Membrane01:28

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Sec61 protein conducting channel
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Fluorescence-Based Measurements of Phosphatidylserine/Phosphatidylinositol 4-Phosphate Exchange Between Membranes
08:49

Fluorescence-Based Measurements of Phosphatidylserine/Phosphatidylinositol 4-Phosphate Exchange Between Membranes

Published on: March 14, 2021

Opsin is a phospholipid flippase.

Indu Menon1, Thomas Huber, Sumana Sanyal

  • 1Department of Biochemistry, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10065, USA.

Current Biology : CB
|January 18, 2011
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Scientists identified opsin as the first ATP-independent phospholipid flippase in photoreceptor discs. This discovery reveals a new function for opsin and advances understanding of lipid transport across membranes.

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Last Updated: Jun 5, 2026

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Methodology for Studying Interactions of Vitamin A Membrane Receptors and Opsin Protein with their Ligands in Generating the Retinylidene Protein
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Published on: October 4, 2024

Area of Science:

  • Membrane Biology
  • Biochemistry
  • Cellular Physiology

Background:

  • Polar lipid flip-flop is essential for cellular life but intrinsically slow and energetically costly.
  • While ATP-dependent flippases are known, ATP-independent flippases in organelles remain unidentified.
  • Photoreceptor discs require rapid lipid translocation, suggesting the presence of such transporters.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify the molecular identity of the ATP-independent phospholipid flippase in photoreceptor discs.
  • To characterize the function of opsin in lipid translocation across biological membranes.
  • To elucidate the mechanism of ATP-independent lipid flip-flop.

Main Methods:

  • Reconstitution of purified opsin into large unilamellar vesicles.
  • Monitoring phospholipid probe flipping across vesicle membranes.
  • Utilizing biophysical techniques to measure translocation rates.

Main Results:

  • Opsin reconstitution into vesicles facilitated rapid phospholipid flipping (τ<10 s).
  • This demonstrates opsin's function as an ATP-independent phospholipid flippase.
  • This is the first molecular identification of such a flippase in any biological system.

Conclusions:

  • Opsin functions as an ATP-independent phospholipid flippase in photoreceptor discs.
  • This finding reveals an unexpected role for opsin, a G protein-coupled receptor.
  • Advances understanding of membrane transport mechanisms and receptor function.