In animals, successful production of the visual chromophore (11-
cis
-retinal or derivatives thereof such as 11-
cis
-3-hydroxy-retinal) is essential for photoreceptor cell function and survival. These carotenoid-derived compounds must combine with a protein moiety (the opsin) to establish functional visual pigments. Evidence from cell culture systems has implicated that the retinal pigment epithelium protein of 65 kDa (RPE65) is the long-sought all-
trans
to 11-
cis
retinoid isomerase. RPE65 is structurally related to nonheme iron oxygenases that catalyze the conversion of carotenoids into retinoids. In vertebrate genomes, two carotenoid oxygenases and RPE65 are encoded, whereas in insect genomes only a single representative of this protein family, named NinaB (denoting neither inactivation nor afterpotential mutant B), is encoded. We here cloned and functionally characterized the
ninaB
gene from the great wax moth
Galleria mellonella
. We show that the recombinant purified enzyme combines isomerase and oxygenase (isomerooxygenase) activity in a single polypeptide. From kinetics and isomeric composition of cleavage products of asymmetrical carotenoid substrates, we propose a model for the spatial arrangement between substrate and enzyme. In
Drosophila
, we show that carotenoid-isomerooxygenase activity of NinaB is more generally found in insects, and we provide physiological evidence that carotenoids such as 11-
cis
-retinal can promote visual pigment biogenesis in the dark. Our study demonstrates that
trans/cis
isomerase activity can be intrinsic to this class of proteins and establishes these enzymes as key components for both invertebrate and vertebrate vision.
在动物中,成功生成视觉色素(11-cis-视黄醛或其衍生物,如11-cis-3-羟基-视黄醛)对于光感受器细胞的功能和存活至关重要。这些来源于类胡萝卜素的化合物必须与蛋白质基团(视蛋白)结合,以建立功能性的视觉色素。细胞培养系统的证据表明,65 kDa的视网膜色素上皮蛋白(RPE65)是长期寻求的全反式到11-顺式视黄醛异构酶。RPE65在结构上与催化类胡萝卜素转化为视黄醇的非血红素铁氧化酶相关。在脊椎动物基因组中,编码两种类胡萝卜素氧化酶和RPE65,而在昆虫基因组中仅编码该蛋白家族的单个代表,称为NinaB(表示无失活或潜伏突变体B)。我们在大蜡螟Galleria mellonella中克隆并功能性地表征了ninaB基因。我们展示了重组纯化酶在单个多肽中结合异构酶和氧化酶(异构氧化酶)活性。通过不对称类胡萝卜素底物的裂解产物的动力学和异构构成,我们提出了底物和酶之间的空间排列模型。在果蝇中,我们展示了NinaB的类胡萝卜素异构氧化酶活性更普遍地在昆虫中发现,并提供了生理学证据表明,如11-cis-视黄醛等类胡萝卜素可以促进暗处视觉色素的生物合成。我们的研究表明,全反/顺异构酶活性可以是这类蛋白质的内在特性,并将这些酶建立为无脊椎动物和脊椎动物视觉的关键组成部分。