2014
Kinetics of Thermal Activation of an Ultraviolet Cone Pigment
Mooney V, Sekharan S, Liu J, Guo Y, Batista V, Yan E. Kinetics of Thermal Activation of an Ultraviolet Cone Pigment. Journal Of The American Chemical Society 2014, 137: 307-313. PMID: 25514632, DOI: 10.1021/ja510553f.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsTransmembrane helix 6UV pigmentsUnprotonated Schiff baseVisual pigmentsCone pigmentsDim-light visionExtracellular loop 2Vertebrate visual pigmentsMolecular evolutionUltraviolet pigmentsOpsin proteinHelix 6Retinyl chromophoreLoop 2UV cone pigmentBovine rhodopsinRod pigmentRhodopsinHydrogen bonding networkSalt bridgeIonone ringPigmentsSchiff base chromophoreSteric restraintsActivation
2013
Spectral Tuning of Ultraviolet Cone Pigments: An Interhelical Lock Mechanism
Sekharan S, Mooney V, Rivalta I, Kazmi M, Neitz M, Neitz J, Sakmar T, Yan E, Batista V. Spectral Tuning of Ultraviolet Cone Pigments: An Interhelical Lock Mechanism. Journal Of The American Chemical Society 2013, 135: 19064-19067. PMID: 24295328, PMCID: PMC4536979, DOI: 10.1021/ja409896y.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsUV pigmentsCone pigmentsSpectral tuningActivation of rhodopsinAncestral pigmentMolecular evolutionVertebrate visionMutagenesis studiesPhotoreceptor rhodopsinMolecular levelStructural rearrangementsUnprotonated Schiff baseTransmembraneTM6PigmentsRhodopsinMutationsEssential componentRetinyl chromophoreHydrogen bonding networkMutantsTM2Structural modelPhysiologicalRearrangementS0‑State Model of the Oxygen-Evolving Complex of Photosystem II
Pal R, Negre CF, Vogt L, Pokhrel R, Ertem MZ, Brudvig GW, Batista VS. S0‑State Model of the Oxygen-Evolving Complex of Photosystem II. Biochemistry 2013, 52: 7703-7706. PMID: 24125018, DOI: 10.1021/bi401214v.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsOxygen-evolving complexS1 transitionQuantum mechanics/molecular mechanics modelsX-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopyExtended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopyQM/MM modelAbsorption fine structure spectroscopyElectron transfer processHydrogen bonding networkFine structure spectroscopyPhotosystem IIX-ray diffraction dataMolecular mechanics modelPCET mechanismKok cycleWater moleculesWater splittingBonding networkS1 stateMn centersStructure spectroscopyS0 stateDiffraction dataMM modelSignificant rearrangement