Shaowei Zhang, Laura N Jeffreys, Harshwardhan Poddar, Yuqi Yu, Chuanyang Liu, Kaylee Patel, Linus O Johannissen, Lingyun Zhu, Matthew J Cliff, Cunyu Yan, Giorgio Schirò, Martin Weik, Michiyo Sakuma, Colin W Levy, David Leys, Derren J Heyes, Nigel S Scrutton
Photoreceptor proteins utilise chromophores to sense light and trigger a biological response. The discovery that adenosylcobalamin (or coenzyme B12 ) can act as a light-sensing chromophore heralded a new field of B12 -photobiology. Although microbial genome analysis indicates that photoactive B12 -binding domains form part of more complex protein architectures, regulating a range of molecular-cellular functions in response to light, experimental evidence is lacking. Here we identify and characterise a sub-family of multi-centre photoreceptors, termed photocobilins, that use B12 and biliverdin (BV) to sense light across the visible spectrum...
March 28, 2024: Nature Communications