Chimeras of Channelrhodopsin-1 and -2 from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Exhibit Distinctive Light-induced Structural Changes from Channelrhodopsin-2

Channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) from the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii functions as a light-gated cation channel that has been developed as an optogenetic tool to stimulate specific nerve cells in animals and control their behavior by illumination. The molecular mechanism of ChR2 has been extensively studied by a variety of spectroscopic methods, including light-induced difference Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, which is...