conversion of metarhodopsin I to metarhodopsin II, which is associated with deprotonation of the Schiff's base and change in color from red to yellow. Phototransduction cascade The product of light activation, Metarhodopsin II, initiates the visual phototransduction second messenger pathway by stimulating the G-protein transducin (Gt), resulting in the liberation of its α subunit. This GTP-bound subunit in turn activates a cGMP phosphodiesterase. The cGMP phosphodiesterase hydrolyzes (breaks down) cGMP, lowering its local concentration so it can no longer activate cGMP-dependent cation channels. This leads to the hyperpolarization of photoreceptor cells, changing the rate at which they release transmitters. Deactivation Meta II (metarhodopsin II) is deactivated rapidly after activating transducin by rhodopsin kinase and arrestin. Rhodopsin pigment must be regenerated for further phototransduction to occur. This means replacing all-trans-retinal with 11-cis-retinal and the decay of Meta II is crucial in this process. During the decay of Meta II, the Schiff base link that normally holds all-trans-retinal and the apoprotein opsin (aporhodopsin) is hydrolyzed and becomes Meta III. In the rod outer segment, Meta III decays into separate all-trans-retinal and opsin. A second product of Meta II decay is an all-trans-retinal opsin complex in which the all-trans-retinal has been translocated to second binding sites. Whether the Meta II decay runs into Meta III or the all-trans-retinal opsin complex seems to depend on the pH of the reaction. Higher pH tends to drive the decay reaction towards Meta III. Diseases of the retina Mutations in the rhodopsin gene contribute majorly to various diseases of the retina such as retinitis pigmentosa. In general, the defect rhodopsin aggregates with ubiquitin in inclusion bodies, disrupts the intermediate filament network, and impairs the ability of the cell to degrade non-functioning proteins, which leads to photoreceptor apoptosis. Other mutations on rhodopsin lead to X-linked congenital stationary night blindness, mainly due to constitutive activation, when the mutations occur around the chromophore binding pocket of rhodopsin. Several other pathological states relating to rhodopsin have been discovered including poor post-Golgi trafficking, dysregulative activation, rod outer segment instability and arrestin binding. See also Bacteriorhodopsin, used in some halobacteria as a light-driven proton pump. Explanatory notes References Further reading External links The Rhodopsin Protein Photoisomerization of rhodopsin, animation. Rhodopsin and the eye, summary with pictures. Biological pigments Eye G protein-coupled receptors Genes on human chromosome 3 Rhodopsins Sensory receptors