Partch Carrie L, Sancar Aziz
Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
Photochem Photobiol. 2005 Nov-Dec;81(6):1291-304. doi: 10.1562/2005-07-08-IR-607.
Cryptochromes are flavoproteins that exhibit high sequence and structural similarity to the light-dependent DNA-repair enzyme, photolyase. Cryptochromes have lost the ability to repair DNA; instead, they use the energy from near-UV/blue light to regulate a variety of growth and adaptive processes in organisms ranging from bacteria to humans. The photocycle of cryptochrome is not yet known, although it is hypothesized that it may share some similarity to that of photolyase, which utilizes light-driven electron transfer from the catalytic flavin chromophore. In this review, we present genetic evidence for the photoreceptive role of cryptochromes and discuss recent biochemical studies that have furthered our understanding of the cryptochrome photocycle. In particular, the role of the unique C-terminal domain in cryptochrome phototransduction is discussed.
隐花色素是一种黄素蛋白，与光依赖性DNA修复酶光解酶具有高度的序列和结构相似性。隐花色素已丧失修复DNA的能力；相反，它们利用近紫外/蓝光的能量来调节从细菌到人类等各种生物体中的多种生长和适应性过程。尽管据推测隐花色素的光循环可能与光解酶的光循环有一些相似之处，光解酶利用光驱动的电子从催化黄素发色团转移，但隐花色素的光循环目前尚不清楚。在这篇综述中，我们提供了隐花色素光感受作用的遗传学证据，并讨论了最近有助于我们理解隐花色素光循环的生化研究。特别讨论了独特的C末端结构域在隐花色素光转导中的作用。
