The biophysical, molecular, and anatomical landscape of pigeon CRY4: A candidate light-based quantal magnetosensor

Hochstoeger, Tobias; Al Said, Tarek; Maestre, Dante; Walter, Florian; Vilceanu, Alexandra; Pedron, Miriam; Cushion, Thomas D.; Snider, William; Nimpf, Simon; Nordmann, Gregory Charles; Landler, Lukas; Edelman, Nathaniel; Kruppa, Lennard; Duernberger, Gerhard; Mechtler, Karl; Schuechner, Stefan; Ogris, Egon; Malkemper, E. Pascal; Weber, Stefan; Schleicher, Erik und Keays, David A. (2020): The biophysical, molecular, and anatomical landscape of pigeon CRY4: A candidate light-based quantal magnetosensor. In: Science Advances, Bd. 6, Nr. 33, eabb9110

Abstract

The biophysical and molecular mechanisms that enable animals to detect magnetic fields are unknown. It has been proposed that birds have a light-dependent magnetic compass that relies on the formation of radical pairs within cryptochrome molecules. Using spectroscopic methods, we show that pigeon cryptochrome clCRY4 is photoreduced efficiently and forms long-lived spin-correlated radical pairs via a tetrad of tryptophan residues. We report that clCRY4 is broadly and stably expressed within the retina but enriched at synapses in the outer plexiform layer in a repetitive manner. A proteomic survey for retinal-specific clCRY4 interactors identified molecules that are involved in receptor signaling, including glutamate receptor-interacting protein 2, which colocalizes with clCRY4. Our data support a model whereby clCRY4 acts as an ultraviolet-blue photoreceptor and/or a light-dependent magnetosensor by modulating glutamatergic synapses between horizontal cells and cones.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Biologie > Department Biologie II
• Themengebiete: 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik > 570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie
• ISSN: 2375-2548
• Sprache: Englisch