Rhodopsin

Rhodopsin, pigment-containing sensory protein that converts light into an electrical signal. Rhodopsin is found in a wide range of organisms, from vertebrates to bacteria. In many seeing animals, including humans, it is required for vision in dim light and is located in the retina of the eye—specifically, within the tightly packed disks that make up the outer segment of the retina’s photoreceptive rod cells, which are specially adapted for vision under low-light conditions.

Rhodopsin was discovered in 1876 by German physiologist Franz Christian Boll, who observed that the normally reddish purple frog retina turned pale in bright light. The fading of colour was later attributed to the destruction of rhodopsin, via a process known as bleaching. Bleaching and the subsequent regeneration of rhodopsin are major steps in the visual cycle—the series of biochemical reactions that is critical for vision in low light.

Bleaching and recycling

Structurally, rhodopsin is classified as a chromoprotein (chromo is a Greek-derived root meaning “colour”). It is made up of opsin (a colourless protein) and 11-cis-retinal (11-cis-retinaldehyde), a pigmented molecule derived from vitamin A. When the eye is exposed to light, the 11-cis-retinal component of rhodopsin is converted to all-trans-retinal, resulting in a fundamental change in the configuration of the rhodopsin molecule. The change in configuration initiates a phototransduction cascade within the rod, whereby light is converted into an electrical signal that is then transmitted along the optic nerve to the visual cortex in the brain. The change in configuration also causes opsin to dissociate from retinal, resulting in bleaching. Bleaching limits the degree to which the rods are stimulated, decreasing their sensitivity to bright light and allowing cone cells (the other type of photoreceptor in the retina) to mediate vision in bright environments.

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human eye: Bleaching of rhodopsin

All-trans-retinal that is released during bleaching is either stored or changed back to 11-cis-retinal and transported back to the rods. The latter process, which is known as recycling, allows for the regeneration of rhodopsin. Rhodopsin regeneration takes place in darkness and is central to dark adaptation, when rhodopsin levels, depleted from bleaching in a brightly lit environment, gradually increase, enabling rod cells to become increasingly sensitive to dim light.

Rhodopsin in disease

The rhodopsin protein is encoded by the rhodopsin gene, which is designated RHO (or Rho). In humans, mutations in RHO are associated with retinitis pigmentosa and autosomal dominant congenital stationary night blindness, which are hereditary eye diseases. In both conditions, the eye fails to adapt to darkness, resulting in a significantly reduced ability to see in dim light. Retinitis pigmentosa typically begins with the degeneration of rods and night blindness in youth, with the later destruction of cones and the loss of daytime vision. In autosomal dominant congenital stationary night blindness, affected individuals are born with poor vision in dim light but typically have normal daytime vision; night blindness usually does not worsen over time. Rhodopsin may also be affected by environmental factors, particularly by vitamin A deficiency, a symptom of which is night blindness; the condition can be reversed with vitamin A therapy.