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Vertebrate visual opsins are a subclass of ciliary opsins and mediate vision in vertebrates. They include the opsins in human rod and cone cells. They are often abbreviated to opsin, as they were the first opsins discovered and are still the most widely studied opsins. [1]
Opsin refers strictly to the apoprotein (without bound retinal). When an opsin binds retinal to form a holoprotein, it is referred to as Retinylidene protein. However, the distinction is often ignored, and opsin may refer loosely to both (regardless of whether retinal is bound).
Opsins are G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and must bind retinal — typically 11-cis-retinal — in order to be photosensitive, since the retinal acts as the chromophore. When the Retinylidene protein absorbs a photon, the retinal isomerizes and is released by the opsin. The process that follows the isomerization and renewal of retinal is known as the visual cycle. Free 11-cis-retinal is photosensitive and carries its own spectral sensitivity of 380nm. [2] However, to trigger the phototransduction cascade, the process that underlies the visual signal, the retinal must be bound to an opsin when it is isomerized. The retinylidene protein has a spectral sensitivity that differs from that of free retinal and depends on the opsin sequence.
While opsins can only bind retinal, there are two forms of retinal that can act as the chromophore for vertebrate visual opsins:
Animals living on land and marine fish form their visual pigments exclusively with retinal 1. However, many freshwater fish and amphibians can also form visual pigments with retinal 2, depending on the activation of the enzyme retinal-3,4-desaturase (GO:0061899). Many of these species can switch between these chromophores during their life cycle, to adapt to a changing habitat. [3] [4]
Isomerization of 11-cis-retinal into all-trans-retinal by light induces a conformational change in the protein that activates the phototransduction pathway.
There are two classes of vertebrate visual opsin, differentiated by whether they are expressed in rod or cone photoreceptors.
Opsins expressed in cone cells are called cone opsins. [1] The cone opsins are called photopsins when unbound to retinal and iodopsins when bound to retinal. [1] Cone opsins mediate photopic vision (daylight). Cone opsins are further subdivided according to the spectral sensitivity of their iodopsin, namely the wavelength at which the highest light absorption is observed (λmax). [7]
| Name | Abbr. | Cell | λmax (nm) | Human variant [5] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long-wave sensitive | LWS | Cone | 500–570 | OPN1LW "red" erythrolabe (564nm) OPN1MW "green" chlorolabe (534nm) |
| Short-wave sensitive 1 | SWS1 | Cone | 355–445 | OPN1SW "blue" cyanolabe (420nm) (extinct in monotremes) |
| Short-wave sensitive 2 | SWS2 | Cone | 400–470 | (extinct in therian mammals) |
| Rhodopsin-like 2 | Rh2 | Cone | 480–530 | (Extinct in mammals) |
Opsins expressed in rod cells are called rod opsins. The rod opsins are called scotopsins when unbound to retinal and rhodopsins or porphyropsins when bound to retinal (1 and 2, respectively). Rod opsins mediate scotopic vision (dim light). [8] Compared to cone opsins, the spectral sensitivity of rhodopsin is quite stable, not deviating far from 500 nm in any vertebrate.
| Name | Abbr. | Cell | λmax (nm) | Human variant [5] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scotopsin | Rh1 | Rod | Rhodopsin: ~500 Porphyropsin: ~522 [3] | RHO human rhodopsin (498nm) |
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Extant vertebrates typically have four cone opsin classes (LWS, SWS1, SWS2, and Rh2) as well as one rod opsin class (rhodopsin, Rh1), all of which were inherited from early vertebrate ancestors. These five classes of vertebrate visual opsins emerged through a series of gene duplications beginning with LWS and ending with Rh1, according to the cladogram to the right; this serves as an example of neofunctionalization. Each class has since evolved into numerous variants. [9] [10] Evolutionary relationships, deduced using the amino acid sequence of the opsins, are frequently used to categorize cone opsins into their respective class. [1] Mammals lost Rh2 and SWS2 classes during the nocturnal bottleneck. Primate ancestors later developed two LWS opsins (LWS and MWS), leaving humans with 4 visual opsins in 3 classes.
George Wald received the 1967 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his experiments in the 1950s that showed the difference in absorbance by these photopsins (see image). [11]
Retinol, also called vitamin A1, is a fat-soluble vitamin in the vitamin A family that is found in food and used as a dietary supplement. Retinol or other forms of vitamin A are needed for vision, cellular development, maintenance of skin and mucous membranes, immune function and reproductive development. Dietary sources include fish, dairy products, and meat. As a supplement it is used to treat and prevent vitamin A deficiency, especially that which results in xerophthalmia. It is taken by mouth or by injection into a muscle. As an ingredient in skin-care products, it is used to reduce wrinkles and other effects of skin aging.
Rhodopsin, also known as visual purple, is a protein encoded by the RHO gene and a G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR). It is the opsin of the rod cells in the retina and a light-sensitive receptor protein that triggers visual phototransduction in rods. Rhodopsin mediates dim light vision and thus is extremely sensitive to light. When rhodopsin is exposed to light, it immediately photobleaches. In humans, it is regenerated fully in about 30 minutes, after which the rods are more sensitive. Defects in the rhodopsin gene cause eye diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa and congenital stationary night blindness.
A photoreceptor cell is a specialized type of neuroepithelial cell found in the retina that is capable of visual phototransduction. The great biological importance of photoreceptors is that they convert light into signals that can stimulate biological processes. To be more specific, photoreceptor proteins in the cell absorb photons, triggering a change in the cell's membrane potential.
Transducin (Gt) is a protein naturally expressed in vertebrate retina rods and cones and it is very important in vertebrate phototransduction. It is a type of heterotrimeric G-protein with different α subunits in rod and cone photoreceptors.
Rod cells are photoreceptor cells in the retina of the eye that can function in lower light better than the other type of visual photoreceptor, cone cells. Rods are usually found concentrated at the outer edges of the retina and are used in peripheral vision. On average, there are approximately 92 million rod cells in the human retina. Rod cells are more sensitive than cone cells and are almost entirely responsible for night vision. However, rods have little role in color vision, which is the main reason why colors are much less apparent in dim light.
In visual physiology, adaptation is the ability of the retina of the eye to adjust to various levels of light. Natural night vision, or scotopic vision, is the ability to see under low-light conditions. In humans, rod cells are exclusively responsible for night vision as cone cells are only able to function at higher illumination levels. Night vision is of lower quality than day vision because it is limited in resolution and colors cannot be discerned; only shades of gray are seen. In order for humans to transition from day to night vision they must undergo a dark adaptation period of up to two hours in which each eye adjusts from a high to a low luminescence "setting", increasing sensitivity hugely, by many orders of magnitude. This adaptation period is different between rod and cone cells and results from the regeneration of photopigments to increase retinal sensitivity. Light adaptation, in contrast, works very quickly, within seconds.
Retinal is a polyene chromophore. Retinal, bound to proteins called opsins, is the chemical basis of visual phototransduction, the light-detection stage of visual perception (vision).
Melanopsin is a type of photopigment belonging to a larger family of light-sensitive retinal proteins called opsins and encoded by the gene Opn4. In the mammalian retina, there are two additional categories of opsins, both involved in the formation of visual images: rhodopsin and photopsin in the rod and cone photoreceptor cells, respectively.
Photopigments are unstable pigments that undergo a chemical change when they absorb light. The term is generally applied to the non-protein chromophore moiety of photosensitive chromoproteins, such as the pigments involved in photosynthesis and photoreception. In medical terminology, "photopigment" commonly refers to the photoreceptor proteins of the retina.
Animal opsins are G-protein-coupled receptors and a group of proteins made light-sensitive via a chromophore, typically retinal. When bound to retinal, opsins become retinylidene proteins, but are usually still called opsins regardless. Most prominently, they are found in photoreceptor cells of the retina. Five classical groups of opsins are involved in vision, mediating the conversion of a photon of light into an electrochemical signal, the first step in the visual transduction cascade. Another opsin found in the mammalian retina, melanopsin, is involved in circadian rhythms and pupillary reflex but not in vision. Humans have in total nine opsins. Beside vision and light perception, opsins may also sense temperature, sound, or chemicals.
Visual phototransduction is the sensory transduction process of the visual system by which light is detected by photoreceptor cells in the vertebrate retina. A photon is absorbed by a retinal chromophore, which initiates a signal cascade through several intermediate cells, then through the retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) comprising the optic nerve.
Intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs), also called photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (pRGC), or melanopsin-containing retinal ganglion cells (mRGCs), are a type of neuron in the retina of the mammalian eye. The presence of an additional photoreceptor was first suspected in 1927 when mice lacking rods and cones still responded to changing light levels through pupil constriction; this suggested that rods and cones are not the only light-sensitive tissue. However, it was unclear whether this light sensitivity arose from an additional retinal photoreceptor or elsewhere in the body. Recent research has shown that these retinal ganglion cells, unlike other retinal ganglion cells, are intrinsically photosensitive due to the presence of melanopsin, a light-sensitive protein. Therefore, they constitute a third class of photoreceptors, in addition to rod and cone cells.
Rhodopsin kinase is a serine/threonine-specific protein kinase involved in phototransduction. This enzyme catalyses the following chemical reaction:
Photoreceptor proteins are light-sensitive proteins involved in the sensing and response to light in a variety of organisms. Some examples are rhodopsin in the photoreceptor cells of the vertebrate retina, phytochrome in plants, and bacteriorhodopsin and bacteriophytochromes in some bacteria. They mediate light responses as varied as visual perception, phototropism and phototaxis, as well as responses to light-dark cycles such as circadian rhythm and other photoperiodisms including control of flowering times in plants and mating seasons in animals.
Retinylidene proteins, or rhodopsins in a broad sense, are proteins that use retinal as a chromophore for light reception. They are the molecular basis for a variety of light-sensing systems from phototaxis in flagellates to eyesight in animals. Retinylidene proteins include all forms of opsin and rhodopsin. While rhodopsin in the narrow sense refers to a dim-light visual pigment found in vertebrates, usually on rod cells, rhodopsin in the broad sense refers to any molecule consisting of an opsin and a retinal chromophore in the ground state. When activated by light, the chromophore is isomerized, at which point the molecule as a whole is no longer rhodopsin, but a related molecule such as metarhodopsin. However, it remains a retinylidene protein. The chromophore then separates from the opsin, at which point the bare opsin is a retinylidene protein. Thus, the molecule remains a retinylidene protein throughout the phototransduction cycle.
The visual cycle is a process in the retina that replenishes the molecule retinal for its use in vision. Retinal is the chromophore of most visual opsins, meaning it captures the photons to begin the phototransduction cascade. When the photon is absorbed, the 11-cis retinal photoisomerizes into all-trans retinal as it is ejected from the opsin protein. Each molecule of retinal must travel from the photoreceptor cell to the RPE and back in order to be refreshed and combined with another opsin. This closed enzymatic pathway of 11-cis retinal is sometimes called Wald's visual cycle after George Wald (1906–1997), who received the Nobel Prize in 1967 for his work towards its discovery.
OPN1LW is a gene on the X chromosome that encodes for long wave sensitive (LWS) opsin, or red cone photopigment. It is responsible for perception of visible light in the yellow-green range on the visible spectrum. The gene contains 6 exons with variability that induces shifts in the spectral range. OPN1LW is subject to homologous recombination with OPN1MW, as the two have very similar sequences. These recombinations can lead to various vision problems, such as red-green colourblindness and blue monochromacy. The protein encoded is a G-protein coupled receptor with embedded 11-cis-retinal, whose light excitation causes a cis-trans conformational change that begins the process of chemical signalling to the brain.
RPE-retinal G protein-coupled receptor also known as RGR-opsin is a protein that in humans is encoded by the RGR gene. RGR-opsin is a member of the rhodopsin-like receptor subfamily of GPCR. Like other opsins which bind retinaldehyde, it contains a conserved lysine residue in the seventh transmembrane domain. RGR-opsin comes in different isoforms produced by alternative splicing.
G-protein-coupled receptor kinase 7 is a serine/threonine-specific protein kinase involved in phototransduction. This enzyme catalyses the phosphorylation of cone (color) photopsins in retinal cones during high acuity color vision primarily in the fovea.
Emixustat is a small molecule notable for its establishment of a new class of compounds known as visual cycle modulators (VCMs). Formulated as the hydrochloride salt, emixustat hydrochloride, it is the first synthetic medicinal compound shown to affect retinal disease processes when taken by mouth. Emixustat was invented by the British-American chemist, Ian L. Scott, and is currently in Phase 3 trials for dry, age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
As Fig. 11a makes clear, MSP is of little use in defining cone spectral sensitivities except close to the photopigment λmax. The large discrepancies between MSP and other estimates of cone spectral sensitivities arise because of the small signal to noise ratio of the MSP measurements.