Mitsumasa Koyanagi

Self-regenerating opsin from reef-building coral

This paper identifies a coral opsin, AtAntho2c, that can autonomously regenerate its inactive state through thermal isomerization of retinal, enabling repeated light responses without exogenous retinal.

Coral anthozoan-specific opsins employ a novel chloride counterion for spectral tuning

This study identifies a novel chloride counterion mechanism in coral opsins that stabilizes the Schiff base proton, enabling light sensitivity without a traditional counterion residue.

Active state structures of a bistable visual opsin bound to G proteins

This study presents active state structures of a bistable opsin, JSR1, bound to G proteins, revealing differences in activation mechanisms between monostable and bistable opsins.

Optogenetic manipulation of Gq-and Gi/o-coupled receptor signaling in neurons and heart muscle cells

The paper develops optogenetic tools using animal G protein-coupled bistable rhodopsins to control Gq and Gi/o signaling in neurons and cardiomyocytes, showing their utility in vivo.