INOUE lab. (ISSP, Univ. Tokyo)

Harnessing light the retinal way - Nature Chemistry Yasuhisa Mizutani marvels at how effectively nature utilizes the π-conjugated system of retinal in proteins.

A new article on retinal chemistry in rhodopsins by Prof. Mizutani in Nat. Chem.!🎉
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A new heliorhodopsin (V2HeR) from a giant virus by the Prof. Kandori lab🧬 Congratulations!🎉
www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/biop...
@bejalab.bsky.social

21st International Conference on Retinal Proteins (ICRP2026) will be held in Siena, Italy, from September 14 to 19, 2026
Chair- Massimo Olivucci,
Co-Chair- Kwang-Hwang Jung
www.congressi.unisi.it/retinalprote...

Happy to share our new preprint on the red-shifted channelrhodopsin ChR024, recently discovered by Inoue Lab (biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
), highlighting its long-wavelength absorption and ion conductance:
biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Many thanks to our wonderful lab members and collaborators!

Structural basis for color tuning and passive ion conductance in red-shifted pump-fold channelrhodopsin ChR024 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

A preprint on a newly discovered long-wavelength-absorbing rhodopsin channel has been released. This molecule was identified based on machine-learning predictions that we have been developing with Prof. Ichiro Takeuchi’s group at Nagoya University🧬
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Excited to share our latest paper - now out in @science.org - we showed how oxytocin modulates maternally-directed behavior in young mice (P15).

Carotenoids bind rhodopsins and act as photocycle-accelerating pigments in marine Bacteroidota - Nature Microbiology In marine bacteria, carotenoids enhance rhodopsin function by acting as light-harvesting antennae and photocycle-accelerating pigments, a dual mechanism that enhances light energy capture and expands ...

#NewResearch

Carotenoids enhance rhodopsin function as light-harvesting antennae and photocycle-accelerating pigments, a dual mechanism enhancing light energy capture and expanding microbial phototrophy.

#MicroSky

@labinoue.bsky.social @susumu31.bsky.social

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Carotenoids bind rhodopsins and act as photocycle-accelerating pigments in marine Bacteroidota - Nature Microbiology In marine bacteria, carotenoids enhance rhodopsin function by acting as light-harvesting antennae and photocycle-accelerating pigments, a dual mechanism that enhances light energy capture and expands ...

Our paper reporting a new light-harvesting system in H⁺ & Cl⁻-pumping rhodopsins of marine bacteria is now out in Nature Microbiology! So excited!!!
Key discoveries (using isolated cultures from the research cruise Mirai MR10-01 — personally, this is super exciting🔥):
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

In this study, we collaborated with Prof. Yoshizawa, Prof. Shirouzu, and their teams. Inoue examined the energy transfer efficiency from carotenoids to retinal using transient absorption spectroscopy. In these H+ and Cl- pumps, carotenoids not only act as antennas, they accelerate the photocycle✨

Adaptive loss of shortwave-sensitive opsins during cartilaginous fish evolution - Nature Communications Cartilaginous fishes lost the short-wave-sensitive (sws) opsin genes at some point in their evolutionary history. Here, the authors present genome assemblies of Okamejei kenojei (skate) and Prionace g...

Adaptive loss of shortwave-sensitive opsins (SWS) during cartilaginous fish evolution🦈SWS cause cell death, and in cartilaginous fishes, where the impact is particularly pronounced, they evolutionarily lost these genes to avoid such effects🧬
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@natcomms.nature.com

Opsins are Phospholipid Scramblases in All Domains of Life Opsins are highly abundant retinal proteins in the membranes of photoheterotrophic bacteria. However, some microbial genomes encode an opsin but lack the gene for the final enzyme in retinal synthesis...

Scramblase activity of actionorhodopsin🧐
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
@biorxivpreprint.bsky.social

Time-resolved FTIR study of anion channelrhodopsin, GtACR1. The O intermediate can contribute to channel opening upon photoexcitation🔦🌟
www.nature.com/articles/s42...

Mitochondrial origins of the pressure to sleep - Nature Research on Drosophila neurons shows links between the need to sleep and aerobic metabolism, indicating that the pressure to sleep may have a mitochondrial origin.

Mitochondrial optogenetics using delta-rhodopsin the discovery of a new elements of the origin of sleep pressure😳
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

we got the cover!! www.biophys.jp/biophysics_a...

Two papers from our lab were featured as cover art—Takashi’s bestrhodopsin mimicking GR for the Supplementary Cover of JPC Lett., and Takahashi-kun’s HulaChrimson for the Cover Picture of BPPB! ✨🥳
pubs.acs.org/toc/jpclcd/1...
www.biophys.jp/biophysics_a...

Origin of the Red-Shifted Absorption Maximum in Channelrhodopsin Chrimson pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

v2 in bioRxiv!! Oceanic cyanobacterial photosynthesis is negatively affected by viral NblA proteins www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

🧪🦠New study by Bluetools partners at Technion and collaborators shows how marine archaea use HeimdallRs to harvest a broader range of sunlight. Published in Nature Microbiology:  https://www.bluetools-project.eu/how-marine-archaea-use-light-a-closer-look-at-heimdallrs/
#MarineMicrobes #Rhodopsins

Multistep 11-cis to All-trans Retinal Photoisomerization in Bestrhodopsin, an Unusual Microbial Rhodopsin Rhodopsins constitute a broad class of retinal-binding photoreceptors. Microbial rhodopsins are canonically activated through an all-trans to 13-cis photoisomerization, whereas animal rhodopsins are m...

Multistep 11-cis to All-trans Retinal Photoisomerization in Bestrhodopsin, an Unusual Microbial Rhodopsin pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....

Survival strategies of planktonic organisms in alpine lakes and beyond www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

CryoRhodopsins: A comprehensive characterization of a group of microbial rhodopsins from cold environments Spectroscopy, structural, and functional study of microbial rhodopsins with characteristic long-living near–UV-absorbing state.

CryoRhodopsins: A comprehensive characterization of a group of microbial rhodopsins from cold environments www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Congratulations to Hiroto on his first “first-author” paper. HulaChrimson was found through metatranscriptome analysis from Lake Hula by the Oded group!🎉🥳 Thank you for the fantastic collaboration!🙌
@bejalab.bsky.social @shaifain.bsky.social‬

A new paper led by Hiroto (M2 student) on the novel channelrhodopsin HulaChrimson is now out in BPPB!✨ Interestingly, despite high similarity to red-absorbing Chrimson and sharing key residues, HulaChrimson shows blue absorption🫐🧐 www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/biop...
#OpenAccess

Selective Choice of the Efficient Carotenoid Antenna by a Xanthorhodopsin: Controlling Factors for Binding and Excitation Energy Transfer Despite extensive research on carotenoids and microbial rhodopsins in aquatic environments, a fundamental understanding of the binding requirements of carotenoids that serve as auxiliary light-harvest...

Selective Choice of the Efficient Carotenoid Antenna by a Xanthorhodopsin: Controlling Factors for Binding and Excitation Energy Transfer pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

"Structural and functional characterization of human sweet taste receptor"😳
nature.com/articles/s41...
@nature.com

RubyACRs Enable Red-Shifted Optogenetic Inhibition in Freely Behaving Drosophila Optogenetic activators with red-shifted excitation spectra, such as Chrimson, have significantly advanced Drosophila neuroscience. However, until recently, available optogenetic inhibitors required sh...

Optogenetic inhibition of Drosohila neurons using RubyACRs 🟥✨
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
@biorxivpreprint.bsky.social

A Constructive Study Based on Gloeobacter Rhodopsin to Explore the Origin of Extreme Redshift and Nontypical Isomerization of Bestrhodopsin pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Our new study by Takashi, Yuma, and Masae on color-tuning mechanism of bestrhodopsin was published in JPC Lett.!🙌✨By introducing its residues into GR, we revealed the role of the counterion triad and key residues for red-shifted absorption and unique isomerization😊
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Time-resolved Raman study on GtACR1 has been published in JPC Lett.!🥳 Led by Dr. Shibata and in collaboration with Prof. Akiyama's and Prof. Kato(@emekato.bsky.social)'s teams, we explored structural and H-bond changes of retinal after its photoisomerization.📊✨
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...