Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 15, 2025

Long-range Channelrhodopsin-assisted Circuit Mapping of Inferior Colliculus Neurons with Blue and Red-shifted Channelrhodopsins
Published on: February 7, 2020
Channelrhodopsins with distinct chromophores and binding patterns
Yuanyue Shan1,2, Liping Zhao1, Meiyu Chen1
1Laboratory of Cell Fate Control, School of Life Sciences, Westlake University, Hangzhou, China.
Abstract:
Channelrhodopsins are popular optogenetic tools in neuroscience, but remain poorly understood mechanistically. Here we report the cryo-EM structures of channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and H. catenoides kalium channelrhodopsin (KCR1). We show that ChR2 recruits an endogenous N-retinylidene-PE-like molecule to a previously unidentified lateral retinal binding pocket, exhibiting a reduced light response in HEK293 cells. In contrast, H. catenoides kalium channelrhodopsin (KCR1) binds an endogenous retinal in its canonical retinal binding pocket under identical condition. However, exogenous ATR reduces the photocurrent magnitude of wild type KCR1 and also inhibits its leaky mutant C110T. Our results uncover diverse retinal chromophores with distinct binding patterns for channelrhodopsins in mammalian cells, which may further inspire next generation optogenetics for complex tasks such as cell fate control.
More Related Videos
08:39Whole-cell Patch-clamp Recordings for Electrophysiological Determination of Ion Selectivity in Channelrhodopsins
Published on: May 22, 2017
11:08Two Peeling Methods for the Isolation of Photoreceptor Cell Compartments in the Mouse Retina for Protein Analysis
Published on: December 7, 2021
Related Concept Videos
Channel Rhodopsins
Rhodopsins belong to the family of cell surface proteins called G-protein coupled receptors,...
Photoreceptors and Visual Pathways
G-Protein Gated Ion Channels
Sensory...
G Protein-coupled Receptors
GPCRs are also called heptahelical, 7TM, or serpentine receptors, and consist of seven (H1-H7) transmembrane alpha-helices that span the bilayer to form a cylindrical core. The transmembrane helices are connected by three extracellular loops and three...
Transducer Mechanism: G Protein–Coupled Receptors
GPCRs are also called heptahelical,...
The Photochemical Reaction Center