Researchers at Institute for Molecular Sciences reported that a mammalian photoreceptive protein melanopsin spontaneously releases the chromophore retinal. The property would be important to regulate non-visual photoreception in mammals. This work was carried out as a collaborative work of Drs. Hisao Tsukamoto and Yuji Furutani (Institute for Molecular Science) with Yoshihiro Kubo (National Institute for Physiological Sciences), David Farrens (Oregon Health and Science University), Mitsumasa Koyanagi and Akihisa Terakita (Osaka City University). This study was published online in the Journal of Biological Chemistry on September 28, 2015.
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