Halorhodopsin

Halorhodopsin is a light-gated ion pump, specific for chloride ions, found in archaea, known as halobacteria. It is a seven-transmembrane protein of the retinylidene protein family, homologous to the light-driven proton pump bacteriorhodopsin, and similar in tertiary structure (but not primary sequence structure) to vertebrate rhodopsins, the pigments that sense light in the retina. Halorhodopsin also shares sequence similarity to channelrhodopsin, another light-driven ion channel. Halorhodopsin contains the essential light-isomerizable vitamin A derivative all-trans-retinal. Due to the intense attention on solving the structure and function of this molecule, halorhodopsin is one of the few membrane proteins whose crystal structure is known.