Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Rhodopsin Chemistry and Structure

Published

Author(s)

K D. Ridge

Abstract

Rhodopsin is a retinal photoreceptor protein of bipartite structure consisting of the transmembrane protein opsin and the light Sensitive chromophore 11-cis-retinal, linked to opsin via a protonated Schiff base. Studies on rhodopsin have unveiled many structural and functional features that are common to a large and pharmacologically important group of proteins from the G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily, of which rhodopsin is the best-studied member. In this work, the main emphasis will be on structural investigations. In particular, the high-resolution structure of bovine rhodopsin provides a template for understanding how GPCRs work and highlights its central importance to the visual process.
Citation
Annual Review of Biophysics and Biomolecular Structure

Keywords

crystal structure, G-protein-coupled receptors, phototransduction, rhodopsin, signal transduction, transmembrane protein, vision, vitamin A

Citation

Ridge, K. (2008), Rhodopsin Chemistry and Structure, Annual Review of Biophysics and Biomolecular Structure (Accessed December 11, 2024)

Issues

If you have any questions about this publication or are having problems accessing it, please contact reflib@nist.gov.

Created October 16, 2008