The discovery of the light-gated ion channel channelrhodopsin (ChR) set the stage for the novel field of optogenetics, where cellular processes are controlled by light. However, the underlying molecular mechanism of light-induced cation permeation in ChR2 remains unknown. Here, we have traced the structural changes of ChR2 by time-resolved FTIR spectroscopy, complemented by functional electrophysiological measurements. We have resolved the vibrational changes associated with the open states of the channel (P 2 390 and P 3 520 ) and characterized several proton transfer events. Analysis of the amide I vibrations suggests a transient increase in hydration of transmembrane α-helices with a t 1/2 = 60 μs, which tallies with the onset of cation permeation. Aspartate 253 accepts the proton released by the Schiff base (t 1/2 = 10 μs), with the latter being reprotonated by aspartic acid 156 (t 1/2 = 2 ms). The internal proton acceptor and donor groups, corresponding to D212 and D115 in bacteriorhodopsin, are clearly different from other microbial rhodopsins, indicating that their spatial position in the protein was relocated during evolution. Previous conclusions on the involvement of glutamic acid 90 in channel opening are ruled out by demonstrating that E90 deprotonates exclusively in the nonconductive P 4 480 state. Our results merge into a mechanistic proposal that relates the observed proton transfer reactions and the protein conformational changes to the gating of the cation channel.O ptogenetics provides new tools to neurophysiologists to steer cellular responses with unprecedented temporal and spatial resolution. The former takes advantage of light as an ultrashort trigger, whereas the latter is achieved by genetically encoding and directing photosensitive proteins to specific cell types. The most prominent among the optogenetics tools is channelrhodopsin (ChR), which was found to be the first light-gated ion channel of its kind (1, 2). This discovery paved the way for an exponentially growing number of neurophysiological applications, ranging from single cells to living animals (3). Light-gated ion permeation by ChR expands the various modes of action of the large family of microbial rhodopsins already comprising light-driven ion pumps and sensors (4). Among the various ChRs, which differ mostly in cation selectivity (3), ChR2 is used in the majority of optogenetic applications because of the higher expression yield in mammalian cells.A projection structure of the heptahelical ChR2 showed a dimer with the contact interface between helices C and D suggested to form the cation channel (5). More recently, a chimeric ChR (C1C2) was constructed by linking the last two helices (F and G) of ChR2 to the first five (A to E) of ChR1 and resolved by X-ray crystallography to 2.3 Å (6). The high-resolution structure confirmed the dimeric arrangement and identified an electronegative extracellular pore in each monomer framed by helices A, B, C, and G. Accompanying electrophysiological experiments on point mutants indicated r...

The discovery of channelrhodopsins introduced a new class of lightgated ion channels, which when genetically encoded in host cells resulted in the development of optogenetics. Channelrhodopsin-2 from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, CrChR2, is the most widely used optogenetic tool in neuroscience. To explore the connection between the gating mechanism and the influx and efflux of water molecules in CrChR2, we have integrated light-induced time-resolved infrared spectroscopy and electrophysiology. Cross-correlation analysis revealed that ion conductance tallies with peptide backbone amide I vibrational changes at 1,665(−) and 1,648(+) cm. These two bands report on the hydration of transmembrane α-helices as concluded from vibrational coupling experiments. Lifetime distribution analysis shows that water influx proceeded in two temporally separated steps with time constants of 10 μs (30%) and 200 μs (70%), the latter phase concurrent with the start of ion conductance. Water efflux and the cessation of the ion conductance are synchronized as well, with a time constant of 10 ms. The temporal correlation between ion conductance and hydration of helices holds for fast (E123T) and slow (D156E) variants of CrChR2, strengthening its functional significance.channelrhodopsin | optogenetics | channel gating | infrared spectroscopy | time-resolved spectroscopy I on channels are membrane proteins that mediate the passive movement of cations and anions across biological membranes, a process not only central for most living organisms but key to electrical excitability of cells. Upon activation, ion channels constitute a transient pathway to facilitate the permeation of ions across the cellular membrane. Ion channels can be switched, or gated, from a closed (nonconductive) to an open (conductive) state by external stimuli, such as ligands, voltage, or mechanical stress (1-3). Available structural information indicates that the ion-conducting pathway generally comprises a pore with wide regions solvated by water and constrictions sites formed by specific polar groups that confer ion selectivity (4). In the nonconductive state, the permeation of ions is prevented by energy barriers along the pore, either from physical occlusion or from the hydrophobic nature of residues lining the pore: the pore does not need to be physically occluded to be functionally closed (5). Habitual suspects for the gating mechanism, i.e., how the protein transits from the nonconductive to the conductive state, are diverse types of structural changes, such as orientation/rotation changes of transmembrane helices or of bulky (aromatic) side chains (6). Several computational studies have suggested a more subtle gating mechanism, where the thermodynamics and kinetics of the hydration of the ion-conducting pore might play a vital role (5,7,8). However, experimental support for this last proposal relies largely on studies on synthetic nanometric pores (9).Channelrhodopsins (ChRs) belong to the new class of lightgated ion channels, i.e., ion channels activated by light...

Light-gated ion permeation by channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) relies on the photoisomerization of the retinal chromophore and the subsequent photocycle, leading to the formation (on-gating) and decay (off-gating) of the conductive state. Here, we have analyzed the photocycle of a fast-cycling ChR2 variant (E123T mutation, also known as ChETA), by time-resolved UV/vis, step-scan FT-IR, and tunable quantum cascade laser IR spectroscopies with nanosecond resolution. Pregating conformational changes rise with a half-life of 200 ns, silent to UV/vis but detected by IR spectroscopy. They involve changes in the peptide backbone and in the H-bond of the side chain of the critical residue D156. Thus, the P 1 500 intermediate must be separated into early and late states. Light-adapted ChR2 contains a mixture of all-trans and 13-cis retinal in a 70:30 ratio which are both photoactive. Analysis of ethylenic and fingerprint vibrations of retinal provides evidence that the 13-cis photocycle recovers in 1 ms. This recovery is faster than channel off-gating and most of the proton transfer reactions, implying that the 13-cis photocycle is of minor functional relevance for ChR2.

Channelrhodopsins (ChRs) are light-gated cation channels. After blue-light excitation, the protein undergoes a photocycle with different intermediates. Here, we have recorded transient absorbance changes of ChR2 from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii in the visible and infrared regions with nanosecond time resolution, the latter being accomplished using tunable quantum cascade lasers. Because proton transfer reactions play a key role in channel gating, we determined vibrational as well as kinetic isotope effects (VIEs and KIEs) of carboxylic groups of various key aspartic and glutamic acid residues by monitoring their C=O stretching vibrations in H2O and in D2O. D156 exhibits a substantial KIE (>2) in its deprotonation and reprotonation, which substantiates its role as the internal proton donor to the retinal Schiff base. The unusual VIE of D156, upshifted from 1736 cm(-1) to 1738 cm(-1) in D2O, was scrutinized by studying the D156E variant. The C=O stretch of E156 shifted down by 8 cm(-1) in D2O, providing evidence for the accessibility of the carboxylic group. The C=O stretching band of E90 exhibits a VIE of 9 cm(-1) and a KIE of ∼2 for the de- and the reprotonation reactions during the lifetime of the late desensitized state. The KIE of 1 determined in the time range from 20 ns to 5 ms is incompatible with early deprotonation of E90.

a b s t r a c tElectrophysiological experiments showed that the light-activated cation channel channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) pumps protons in the absence of a membrane potential. We determined here the kinetics of transient pH change using a water-soluble pH-indicator. It is shown that ChR2 released protons prior to uptake with a stoichiometry of 0.3 protons per ChR2. Comparison to the photocycle kinetics revealed that proton release and uptake match rise and decay of the P state also represents the conductive state of cation channeling, the concurrence of proton pumping and channel gating implies an intimate mechanistic link of the two functional modes. Studies on the E123T and S245E mutants show that these residues are not critically involved in proton translocation.