Light-regulated permeability of rhodopsin:egg phosphatidylcholine recombinant membranes.

Purified rhodopsin was incorporated into phospholipid bilayers of egg phosphatidylcholine to give recombinant membrane vesicles, which were examined by proton and phosphorus nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Increased rhodopsin content in the membranes appears to progressively inhibit the molecular motions of the methyl, methylene, and phosphate groups of the phospholipid molecules. This indicates that regions of the rhodopsin molecule interact in a manner that affects the phospholipids from the aqueous interface to the bilayer midline. In the dark, the recombinant vesicles were sealed to europium, manganese, or cobalt ions. Light exposure allowed rapid equilibration of Mn2+ and Co2+, and somewhat slower equilibration of Eu3+ across the membrane. Light changed the membrane permeability, and the gradient in chemical potential resulted in a net ion movement across the rhodopsin:phospholipid recombinant membrane. The results suggest rhodopsin is a transmembrane protein.