Bleaching of bacteriorhodopsin by continuous light

FEBS Letters

Tokaji, Zsolt¹  Dér, András¹  Dancsházy, Zsolt¹ 

[1] Institute of Biophysics, Biological Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 521, Szeged H-6701, Hungary

关键词: Retinal dissociation;    Stability;    Technical application;    Thermal aspect of light absorption;    Thermal denaturation;    BR;    bacteriorhodopsin;   

DOI  :  10.1016/S0014-5793(99)00487-1

学科分类：生物化学/生物物理

来源: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

【 摘 要 】

A new two step photobleaching process is observed under continuous illumination of bacteriorhodopsin. This photobleaching is considerable even at physiological temperatures and becomes large at 50–60°C. The photobleaching also increases with increasing pH from 7 to 10. We suggest that the bleaching at its final stage could be due to the dissociation of the retinal and a local thermal denaturation-like process. These facts may question the generally held belief that BR is a stable protein in vivo for a long period of time. Our results may have relevance also to practical applications of bacteriorhodopsin where the stability of bacteriorhodopsin is a key issue. In certain instances, the use of bacteriorhodopsin may require cooled conditions. Here, we defined the conditions under which bacteriorhodopsin is stable. The permanent photobleaching offers a new way of picture imaging and information input for bacteriorhodopsin-based optical devices.

【 授权许可】

Unknown