The visual pigment rhodopsin consists of the apoprotein opsin and the retinoid chromophore 11-cis-retinal. Visual signaling is triggered upon photoisomerization of 11-cis-retinal into all-trans-retinal. A new study shows that visual signaling by opsin in the absence of chromophore is a pathogenetic mechanism of visual cell loss.
- Charlotte E Remé
- Andreas Wenzel