A method was developed to measure Fouriertransform infrared (FTIR) difference spectra of detergentsolubilized rhodopsin expressed in COS cells. Experiments were performed on native bovine rhodopsin, rhodopsin expressed in COS cells, and three expressed rhodopsin mutants with amino acid replacements of membrane-embedded carboxylic acid groups: Asp-83 -* Asn (D83N), Gln (E122Q), and the double mutant D83N/E122Q. Each of the mutant opsins bound 11-cis-retinal to yield a visible light-absorbing pigment. Upon illumination, each of the mutant pigments formed a metarhodopsin fl-like species with maximal absorption at 380 nm that was able to activate guanine nucleotide exchange by btanducin. Rhodopsin versus metarhodopsin iH-like photoproduct FTIR-difference spectra were recorded for each sample. The COS-ceil rhodopsin and mutant difference spectra showed close correspondence to that of rhodopsin from disc membranes.Difference bands (rhodopsin/metarhodopsin II) at 1767/1750 cm'i and at 1734/1745 cm-' were absent from the spectra of mutants D83N and E122Q, respectively. Both bands were absent from the spectrum of the double mutant D83N/E122Q. These results show that Asp-83 and Glu-122 are protonated both in rhodopsin and in metarhodopsin H, in agreement with the isotope effects observed in spectra measured in 2H20. A photoproduct band at 1712 cm-' was not affected by either single or double replacements at positions 83 and 122. We deduce that the 1712 cm-' band arises from the protonation of Glu-113 in metarhodopsin II. Rhodopsin is a member of the superfamily of seventransmembrane-helix, G protein-coupled receptors. The rhodopsin chromophore 11-cis-retinal is covalently bound to the protein via a protonated Schiff base linkage (1) to a lysine residue (Lys-296 in bovine rhodopsin) (2, 3). After photoisomerization of the chromophore, thermal relaxation leads to an active conformation, R*, which binds the G protein transducin and thereby couples photon absorption to the visual signal transduction cascade. It has been shown by chemical modifications of Lys-296 in bovine rhodopsin that the deprotonation of the Schiff base is a prerequisite for R* formation (4, 5). Spectroscopically, this state is designated metarhodopsin II (MII) and characterized by a visible absorption maximum (Am.) at 380 nm, indicative of the unprotonated Schiff base of all-trans-retinal. Biochemical studies (6-10) and resonance Raman spectroscopy (11) of recombinant rhodopsins have shown that the positive charge at the Schiff base nitrogen in rhodopsin is stabilized by Glu-113, which acts as a Schiff base counterion in the transmembrane domain of the opsin.The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge payment. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. §1734 solely to indicate this fact.To investigate the protonation states and possible protonation changes of membrane-embedded carboxyl groups in rhodopsin and its MII photoproduct, we have performed Fourier-transform i...

Water is essential for life on Earth. In its absence, however, some organisms can interrupt their life cycle and temporarily enter an ametabolic state, known as anhydrobiosis [1]. It is assumed that sugars (in particular trehalose) are instrumental for survival under anhydrobiotic conditions [2]. However, the role of trehalose remained obscure because the corresponding evidence was purely correlative and based mostly on in vitro studies without any genetic manipulations of trehalose metabolism. In this study, we used C. elegans as a genetic model to investigate molecular mechanisms of anhydrobiosis. We show that the C. elegans dauer larva is a true anhydrobiote: under defined conditions it can survive even after losing 98% of its body water. This ability is correlated with a several fold increase in the amount of trehalose. Mutants unable to synthesize trehalose cannot survive even mild dehydration. Light and electron microscopy indicate that one of the major functions of trehalose is the preservation of membrane organization. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy of whole worms suggests that this is achieved by preserving homogeneous and compact packing of lipid acyl chains. By means of infrared spectroscopy, we can now distinguish a "dry, yet alive" larva from a "dry and dead" one.

In order to investigate the molecular mechanism of rhodopsin photoactivation, site-directed mutants of bovine rhodopsin were studied by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) difference spectroscopy. Rhodopsin mutants E113D and E113A were prepared in which the retinylidene Schiff base counterion, Glu113, was replaced by Asp and Ala, respectively. FTIR difference spectra were recorded and compared with spectra of recombinant native rhodopsin. Both mutant pigments formed photoproducts at 0 degrees C with vibrational absorption bands typical of the metarhodopsin II (MII) state of rhodopsin. The FTIR difference spectrum of E113D was nearly identical to that of rhodopsin. A positive band at 1712 cm-1 caused by the protonation of an internal carboxylic acid in rhodopsin was shifted slightly to 1709 cm-1 in mutant E113D. E113A was studied at acidic pH in the presence of chloride as an inorganic counterion to the protonated Schiff base. The 1712-cm-1 (1709-cm-1) band was absent in the FTIR difference spectrum of mutant E113A. Therefore, we have assigned the 1712-cm-1 absorbance band to the C = O stretching vibration of protonated Glu113 in MII of rhodopsin. These results show that the Schiff base counterion of rhodopsin, the carboxylate side chain of Glu113, becomes protonated during MII formation.

One of the key questions in biology is how the metabolism of a cell responds to changes in the environment. In budding yeast, starvation causes a drop in intracellular pH, but the functional role of this pH change is not well understood. Here, we show that the enzyme glutamine synthetase (Gln1) forms filaments at low pH and that filament formation leads to enzymatic inactivation. Filament formation by Gln1 is a highly cooperative process, strongly dependent on macromolecular crowding, and involves back-to-back stacking of cylindrical homo-decamers into filaments that associate laterally to form higher order fibrils. Other metabolic enzymes also assemble into filaments at low pH. Hence, we propose that filament formation is a general mechanism to inactivate and store key metabolic enzymes during a state of advanced cellular starvation. These findings have broad implications for understanding the interplay between nutritional stress, the metabolism and the physical organization of a cell.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.02409.001