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Fourier transform IR spectroscopy study for new insights into molecular properties and activation mechanisms of visual pigment rhodopsin
Author(s) -
Vogel Reiner,
Siebert Friedrich
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
biopolymers
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.556
H-Index - 125
eISSN - 1097-0282
pISSN - 0006-3525
DOI - 10.1002/bip.10407
Subject(s) - rhodopsin , chromophore , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , spectroscopy , chemistry , fourier transform spectroscopy , photochemistry , pigment , fourier transform , retinal , biophysics , infrared spectroscopy , optics , biochemistry , organic chemistry , biology , physics , quantum mechanics
Fourier transform IR (FTIR) spectroscopy has been successfully applied in recent years to examine the functional and structural properties of the membrane protein rhodopsin, a prototype G protein coupled receptor. Unlike UV–visible spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy is structurally sensitive. It may give us both global information about the conformation of the protein and very detailed information about the retinal chromophore and all other functional groups, even when these are not directly related to the chromophore. Furthermore, it can be successfully applied to the photointermediates of rhodopsin, including the active receptor species, metarhodopsin II, and its decay products, which is not expected presently or even in the near future from crystallographic approaches. In this review we show how FTIR spectroscopy has significantly contributed to the understanding of very different aspects of rhodopsin, comprising both structural properties and the mechanisms leading to receptor activation and deactivation. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers (Biospectroscopy) 72: 133–148, 2003