title: How color visual pigments are tuned.
abstract: The absorption maximum of the retinal chromophore in color visual pigments is tuned by interactions with the protein (opsin) to which it is bound. Recent advances in the expression of rhodopsin-like transmembrane receptors and in spectroscopic techniques have allowed us to measure resonance Raman vibrational spectra of the retinal chromophore in recombinant visual pigments to examine the molecular basis of this spectral tuning. The dominant physical mechanism responsible for the opsin shift in color vision is the interaction of dipolar amino acid residues with the ground- and excited-state charge distributions of the chromophore.
authors.affiliation: Dept of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
authors.forename: G G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Kochendoerfer
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: T P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Sakmar
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Mathies
mesh_terms: D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009154:Mutation; D011487:Protein Conformation; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000528:radiation effects; D012168:Retinal Pigments / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000528:radiation effects*; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman
chemical_list: D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012168:Retinal Pigments