Conductance mechanisms of rapidly desensitizing cation channelrhodopsins from cryptophyte algae
Bibliographic record
Abstract
ABSTRACT Channelrhodopsins guide algal phototaxis and are widely used as optogenetic probes for control of membrane potential with light. “Bacteriorhodopsin-like” cation channelrhodopsins (BCCRs) from cryptophytes differ in primary structure from other CCRs, lacking usual residues important for their cation conductance. Instead, BCCR sequences match more closely those of rhodopsin proton pumps, containing residues responsible for critical proton transfer reactions. We report 19 new BCCRs, which, together with the earlier 6 known members of this family, form three branches (subfamilies) of a phylogenetic tree. Here we show that the conductance mechanisms in two subfamilies differ with respect to involvement of the homolog of the proton donor in rhodopsin pumps. Two BCCRs from the genus Rhodomonas generate photocurrents that rapidly desensitize under continuous illumination. Using a combination of patch clamp electrophysiology, absorption and Raman spectroscopy, and flash photolysis, we found that the desensitization is due to rapid accumulation of a long-lived nonconducting intermediate of the photocycle with unusually blue-shifted absorption with a maximum at 330 nm. These observations reveal diversity within the BCCR family and contribute to deeper understanding of their independently evolved cation channel function. IMPORTANCE Cation channelrhodopsins, light-gated channels from flagellate green algae, are extensively used as optogenetic photoactivators of neurons in research and recently have progressed to clinical trials for vision restoration. However, the molecular mechanisms of their photoactivation remain poorly understood. We recently identified cryptophyte cation channelrhodopsins, structurally different from those of green algae, which have separately evolved to converge on light-gated cation conductance. This study reveals diversity within this new protein family and describes a subclade with unusually rapid desensitization that results in short transient photocurrents in continuous light. Such transient currents have not been observed in the green algae channelrhodopsins and are potentially useful in optogenetic protocols. Kinetic UV-vis spectroscopy and photoelectrophysiology reveal the desensitization is caused by rapid accumulation of a non-conductive photointermediate in the photochemical reaction cycle. The absorption maximum of the intermediate is 330 nm, the shortest wavelength reported in any rhodopsin, indicating a novel chromophore structure.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame distilled prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. Learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and 10,348 direct Gemma labels. Candidate is the union of thresholded teacher heads; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels or direct frontier model labels.
Codex and Gemma teacher scores by category
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one teacher head, not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".