Spudich J L, Yang C S, Jung K H, Spudich E N
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Texas Medical School, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
Annu Rev Cell Dev Biol. 2000;16:365-92. doi: 10.1146/annurev.cellbio.16.1.365.
Retinylidene proteins, containing seven membrane-embedded alpha-helices that form an internal pocket in which the chromophore retinal is bound, are ubiquitous in photoreceptor cells in eyes throughout the animal kingdom. They are also present in a diverse range of other organisms and locations, such as archaeal prokaryotes, unicellular eukaryotic microbes, the dermal tissue of frogs, the pineal glands of lizards and birds, the hypothalamus of toads, and the human brain. Their functions include light-driven ion transport and phototaxis signaling in microorganisms, and retinal isomerization and various types of photosignal transduction in higher animals. The aims of this review are to examine this group of photoactive proteins as a whole, to summarize our current understanding of structure/function relationships in the best-studied examples, and to report recent new developments.
视黄叉蛋白含有七个嵌入膜内的α螺旋，这些α螺旋形成一个内部口袋，发色团视黄醛结合在其中，在整个动物界的眼睛感光细胞中普遍存在。它们也存在于多种其他生物体和部位，如古细菌原核生物、单细胞真核微生物、青蛙的皮肤组织、蜥蜴和鸟类的松果体、蟾蜍的下丘脑以及人类大脑。它们的功能包括微生物中的光驱动离子运输和趋光信号传导，以及高等动物中的视黄醛异构化和各种类型的光信号转导。本综述的目的是整体研究这一类光活性蛋白，总结我们目前对研究最深入的例子中结构/功能关系的理解，并报告最近的新进展。
