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Sci. STKE, 16 September 2003
Vol. 2003, Issue 200, p. tw365
[DOI: 10.1126/stke.2003.200.tw365]

EDITORS' CHOICE

STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY A Light-Sensing Protein Motif

Phototropins are plant proteins that respond to blue light and regulate processes such as phototropism and leaf opening. On exposure to light, a per-ARNT-Sim (PAS) domain forms a covalent bond with a flavin chromophore, and this process somehow activates a kinase domain. Harper et al. used nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to show that an {alpha}-helix located outside of the PAS domain core associates with the domain in the dark, but the interaction is disrupted in the illuminated state. This conformational change likely couples light-dependent bond formation to kinase activation.

S. M. Harper, L. C. Neil, K. H. Gardner, Structural basis of a phototropin light switch. Science 301, 1541-1544 (2003). [Abstract] [Full Text]

Citation: A Light-Sensing Protein Motif. Sci. STKE 2003, tw365 (2003).

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