Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 29, 2026

Structural Studies of Macromolecules in Solution using Small Angle X-Ray Scattering
Published on: November 5, 2018
Time-resolved X-ray solution scattering observations of light-induced structural changes in sensory rhodopsin II
Lucija Ostojić1, Daniel Sarabi1, Robert Bosman1
1Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
None:
Unicellular organisms respond to a changing environment through physical and chemical sensory cascades. Sensory rhodopsin II (SRII) is a blue-light receptor, which initiates a negative phototaxis response in the host archaea. Here, we apply time-resolved X-ray solution scattering (TR-XSS) to characterize the mechanism of signal transduction by SRII and explore how light-induced structural changes are modified when SRII is in complex with its transducer protein (HtrII). TR-XSS difference data are modeled as arising from an outward movement of helices E and F in combination with modest changes associated with helices C and the extracellular regions of helices D and E. The magnitude of the displacement of helices E and F is similar irrespective of whether or not HtrII is present. In combination with structural predictions of the full SRII:HtrII complex, TR-XSS provides insight into how conformational changes may be communicated from SRII to the signaling domain of HtrII.
More Related Videos
09:15Combining X-Ray Crystallography with Small Angle X-Ray Scattering to Model Unstructured Regions of Nsa1 from S. Cerevisiae
Published on: January 10, 2018
11:48Microfluidic Chips for In Situ Crystal X-ray Diffraction and In Situ Dynamic Light Scattering for Serial Crystallography
Published on: April 24, 2018
Related Concept Videos
X-ray Crystallography
Diffraction
Diffraction is the change in the direction of travel experienced by an electromagnetic wave when it encounters a physical barrier whose dimensions are comparable to those of the wavelength of the light. X-rays are electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths about as long as the distance between neighboring...
Channel Rhodopsins
Rhodopsins belong to the family of cell surface proteins called G-protein coupled receptors,...
What is a Sensory System?
Naturalistic Observations
Ideal Solutions
The Wave Nature of Light