Akihisa Terakita

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.

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.

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.

This study shows that the all-trans 6.11 retinal analogue activates the invertebrate bistable opsin JSR1 and enables complex formation with downstream signaling partners.

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.