Microbial-type rhodopsins are found in archaea, prokaryotes, and eukaryotes. Some of them represent membrane ion transport proteins such as bacteriorhodopsin, a light-driven proton pump, or channelrhodopsin-1 (ChR1), a recently identified light-gated proton channel from the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. ChR1 and ChR2, a related microbial-type rhodopsin from C. reinhardtii, were shown to be involved in generation of photocurrents of this green alga. We demonstrate by functional expression, both in oocytes of Xenopus laevis and mammalian cells, that ChR2 is a directly light-switched cation-selective ion channel. This channel opens rapidly after absorption of a photon to generate a large permeability for monovalent and divalent cations. ChR2 desensitizes in continuous light to a smaller steady-state conductance. Recovery from desensitization is accelerated by extracellular H ؉ and negative membrane potential, whereas closing of the ChR2 ion channel is decelerated by intracellular H ؉ . ChR2 is expressed mainly in C. reinhardtii under low-light conditions, suggesting involvement in photoreception in dark-adapted cells. The predicted seventransmembrane ␣ helices of ChR2 are characteristic for G proteincoupled receptors but reflect a different motif for a cation-selective ion channel. Finally, we demonstrate that ChR2 may be used to depolarize small or large cells, simply by illumination.voltage clamp ͉ patch clamp ͉ light sensitive ͉ Chlamydomonas reinhardtii ͉ Xenopus laevis oocyte

Phototaxis and photophobic responses of green algae are mediated by rhodopsins with microbial type chromophores, i.e. all-trans-retinal in the ground state. The green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii was recently completely sequenced and the EST (expressed sequence tag) database was made public. We and others detected overlapping partial cDNA sequences that encode two proteins which we termed channelopsins (Chops). The N-terminal half of chop1 (approximately 300 of 712 amino acids) comprises hypothetical seven-transmembrane segments with sequence similarity to the proton pump bacteriorhodopsin and the chloride pump halorhodopsin. Even though the overall sequence homology is low, several amino acids are conserved that define the retinal-binding site and the H+-transporting network in BR (bacteriorhodopsin). Expression of Chop1, or only the hydrophobic core, in Xenopus laevis oocytes, enriched with retinal, produced a light-gated conductance (maximum at approx. 500 nm), which shows characteristics of a channel [ChR1 (channelrhodopsin-1)] that is selectively permeable for protons. Also ChR2 (737 amino acids) is an ion channel that is switched directly by light and also here the hydrophobic N-terminal half of the protein is sufficient to enable light-sensitive channel activity. The action spectrum is blue-shifted (maximum at approx. 460 nm) with respect to ChR1. In addition to protons, ChR2 is permeable to univalent and bivalent cations. We suggest that ChRs are involved in phototaxis of green algae. We show that heterologous expression of ChR2 is useful to manipulate intracellular pCa or membrane potential of animal cells, simply by illumination.

The genetic disease cystic fibrosis is caused by mutation of the gene coding for the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). Controversial studies reported regulation of the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) by CFTR. We found that uptake of 22 Na + through ENaC is modulated by activation of CFTR in oocytes, coexpressing CFTR and ENaC, depending on extracellular chloride concentration. Furthermore we found that the effect of CFTR activation could be mimicked by other chloride channels. Voltage-and patch-clamp measurements, however, showed neither stimulation nor inhibition of ENaCmediated conductance by activated CFTR. We conclude that the observed modulation of 22 Na + uptake by activated CFTR is due to the effect of CFTR-mediated chloride conductance on the membrane potential. These findings argue against the notion of a specific influence of CFTR on ENaC and emphasize the chloride channel function of CFTR.

The cystic ¢brosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is a chloride channel which is activated by protein phosphorylation and nucleoside triphosphates. We demonstrate here that fusion of the soluble catalytic subunit of cAMPdependent protein kinase to the membrane protein bacteriorhodopsin yields a constitutively active protein kinase which activates CFTR e¡ectively. As it is membrane-bound it is particularly useful for continuous perfusion of excised inside-out patches. We also tested the e¡ect of a naturally membranebound protein kinase, cGMP-dependent protein kinase II, on CFTR. Both kinases, when continuously active, increase apparent a⁄nity of CFTR to ATP about two-fold emphasizing the role of phosphorylation in modulating the interaction of ATP with the nucleotide binding domains. ß