Krzysztof Palczewski is a researcher in the molecular basis of vision. In a 2000 collaborative study, he helped determine the X-ray crystallography structure of rhodopsin at 2.8 angstrom resolution. Rhodopsin is a light-sensitive G protein-coupled receptor; the structure showed its seven membrane-spanning alpha helices and the buried binding environment of retinal.[ref]
Crystal Structure of Rhodopsin: A G Protein-Coupled Receptor by Krzysztof Palczewski and others. Page 739, Abstract and structure determination; Science 289, 739–745, 2000
The structure connected architecture with a signaling problem: how can a light-driven change near retinal influence the intracellular surface that activates a G protein? Locating the binding pocket, connecting loops and contacts between alpha helices constrained possible mechanisms. The measured inactive-state structure supplied a starting configuration for testing those mechanisms; it did not by itself record the complete time-dependent activation process.[ref]
Crystal Structure of Rhodopsin: A G Protein-Coupled Receptor by Krzysztof Palczewski and others. Abstract and Figures 2–3: retinal environment, transmembrane organization and cytoplasmic interactions
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