Anabaena Sensory Rhodopsin Nanodiscs to Probe Transcriptional Regulation

The membrane protein Anabaena Sensory Rhodopsin (ASR) is a prokaryotic retinal containing photoactive protein, from Anabaena sp. PCC 7120, undergoes a conformational change upon absorption of light. This causes the release of an associated so-called transducer protein ASRT. It has been proposed that this protein complex directly controls transcription of the cpc genes. The goal of this project is to study photo-induced transcriptional regulation properties of ASR and ASRT. To do this we will assemble ASR nanolipoprotein particles or ASR-NLPs. NLPs are unique in that they allow for a membrane protein to be solubilized while still allowing both ends of the membrane protein to be accessed.