title: Structure and activation of rhodopsin.
abstract: Rhodopsin is the first G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) with its three-dimensional structure solved by X-ray crystallography. The crystal structure of rhodopsin has revealed the molecular mechanism of photoreception and signal transduction in the visual system. Although several other GPCR crystal structures have been reported over the past few years, the rhodopsin structure remains an important model for understanding the structural and functional characteristics of other GPCRs. This review summarizes the structural features, the photoactivation, and the G protein signal transduction of rhodopsin.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Structural Sciences, Van Andel Research Institute, NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA. edward.zhou@vai.org
authors.forename: X Edward
authors.initials: XE
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Karsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Melcher
authors.forename: H Eric
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011487:Protein Conformation; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D012243:Rhodopsin / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; D012243:Rhodopsin