Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Ben-Nun M
PROVIDER: S-EPMC122268 | biostudies-literature | 2002 Feb
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Ben-Nun M M Molnar F F Schulten K K Martinez Todd J TJ
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20020201 4
Ab initio methods are used to characterize the ground and first excited state of the chromophore in the rhodopsin family of proteins: retinal protonated Schiff base. Retinal protonated Schiff base has five double bonds capable of undergoing isomerization. Upon absorption of light, the chromophore isomerizes and the character of the photoproducts (e.g., 13-cis and 11-cis) depends on the environment, protein vs. solution. Our ab initio calculations show that, in the absence of any specific interac ...[more]