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Rhodopsin reconstitution in bleached rod outer segment membranes in the presence of a retinal-binding protein from
I M Pepe1, C Cugnoli, J Schwemer
1Istituto di Cibernetica e Biofisica del CNR, Genova, Italy.
Abstract:
The physiological role of a retinal-binding protein from honeybee is investigated. This protein, upon previous loading with all-trans retinal and subsequent irradiation with monochromatic light of wavelength 490 nm, is able to promote the reconstitution of rhodopsin when added to a suspension of opsin membranes from bleached bovine rod outer segments. In this respect this retinal-binding protein could have a role very similar to that postulated for the well-known cephalopod retinochrome, that serves to catalyze the formation in the presence of light of 11-cis retinal in photo-receptor cells and to provide it for the reconstitution of rhodopsin during the visual cycle.