Tetsuo Takahashi

Publications of Tetsuo Takahashi

• Differentiation of photocycle characteristics of flavin-binding BLUF domains of α- and β-subunits of photoactivated adenylyl cyclase of Euglena gracilis.

  Authors: Shinji Ito, Akio Murakami, Mineo Iseki, Tetsuo Takahashi, Shoichi Higashi, Masakatsu Watanabe

  Photochemical & photobiological sciences : Official journal of the European Photochemistry Association and the European Society for Photobiology. 10/2010; 9(10):1327-35.

  Photoactivated adenylyl cyclase (PAC), an FAD-containing photoreceptor of Euglena gracilis, appears to be a heterotetrameric structure composed of 2 homologous subunits (PACα and PACβ), each with aPhotoactivated adenylyl cyclase (PAC), an FAD-containing photoreceptor of Euglena gracilis, appears to be a heterotetrameric structure composed of 2 homologous subunits (PACα and PACβ), each with a pair of BLUF domains (F1 and F2). PAC promotes blue light-induced activation of adenylyl cyclase. In our previous report, we demonstrated that a recombinant version of the PACαF2 domain displays blue light-induced photocycle similar to those of prokaryotic BLUFs (Ito et al., Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2005, 4, 762-769). Here, we further examine the recombinant PACβF2 domain, which like PACαF2 exhibits a blue light-induced photocycle. The estimated quantum efficiency for the phototransformation of PACβF2 was 0.06-0.08, and the half-life for dark relaxation was 3-6 s while the corresponding values for the PACαF2 were 0.28-0.32 and 34-44 s. The remarkable differences between PACαF2 and PACβF2 may be related to the sensitivity of the photoactivation. In PACαF2, amino acid position 556, which is equivalent to Trp104 in the BLUF domain of the purple bacterial AppA protein, is occupied by a Leu residue, while in PACβF2 the equivalent BLUF domain site is conserved as Trp560. Amino acid substitution at this site in PACβF2-Trp560Leu markedly increased the estimated quantum efficiency (0.23) and accelerated the half-life of the dark-relaxation (2 s). These results indicate that Trp560 in PACβF2 plays a main role in suppressing the quantum efficiency.

• Photocycle features of heterologously expressed and assembled eukaryotic flavin-binding BLUF domains of photoactivated adenylyl cyclase (PAC), a blue-light receptor in Euglena gracilis.

  Authors: Shinji Ito, Akio Murakami, Kyosuke Sato, Yasuzo Nishina, Kiyoshi Shiga, Tetsuo Takahashi, Shoichi Higashi, Mineo Iseki, Masakatsu Watanabe

  Photochemical & photobiological sciences : Official journal of the European Photochemistry Association and the European Society for Photobiology. 10/2005; 4(9):762-9.

  Photoactivated adenylyl cyclase (PAC) is a recently discovered blue-light photoreceptor that mediates photomovement in Euglena gracilis(Iseki et al., Nature, 2002, 415, 1047--1051). PAC appears to bePhotoactivated adenylyl cyclase (PAC) is a recently discovered blue-light photoreceptor that mediates photomovement in Euglena gracilis(Iseki et al., Nature, 2002, 415, 1047--1051). PAC appears to be a heterotetramer composed of two FAD-binding subunits (PACalpha and PACbeta). Both subunits have a pair of homologous regions (F1 and F2) which show homology with prokaryotic "sensors of blue-light using FAD"(BLUF) domains. The F1 and F2 domains of PAC are the only eukaryotic BLUF domains found thus far. We obtained soluble recombinant F1 and F2 proteins in PACalpha by heterologous expression with fused glutathione-S-transferase (GST) in E. coli. The expressed F1 samples did not bind flavins, but the F2 samples contained both FAD and FMN with trace amounts of riboflavin. We also assembled the histidine-tagged recombinant F2 (6His-F2) from inclusion bodies in E. coli with exogenous FAD or FMN. Blue-light-induced changes in absorption spectra of these assembled samples were highly similar to those reported for prokaryotic BLUF domains. The FAD- or FMN-assembled 6His-F2 photocycled with nearly the same rate constants of light-reaction and dark-relaxation, which were slightly lower than those of GST-cleaved F2. The estimated quantum efficiency for the phototransformation was 0.28--0.32, and the half-life was 34--44 s at 25 degrees C for the recombinant PACalpha F2, whereas that reported for prokaryotic BLUF domains varied from ca. 3.5 s (Tll0078) to ca. 900 s (AppA). The mutated recombinant Y472F and Q514G of PACalpha F2 and the F2 domain of the PACalpha homologue from Eutreptiella gymnastica, which lacks the Gln residue conserved in other BLUF domains, showed no photoinduced transformation.

• Archaeal-type rhodopsins in Chlamydomonas: model structure and intracellular localization.

  Authors: Takeshi Suzuki, Kenta Yamasaki, Satoshi Fujita, Kazushi Oda, Mineo Iseki, Kazuichi Yoshida, Masakatsu Watanabe, Hiromi Daiyasu, Hiroyuki Toh, Eriko Asamizu, Satoshi Tabata, Kenji Miura, Hideya Fukuzawa, Shogo Nakamura, Tetsuo Takahashi

  Biochemical and biophysical research communications. 03/2003; 301(3):711-7.

  Phototaxis in the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is mediated by rhodopsin-type photoreceptor(s). Recent expressed sequence tag database from the Kazusa DNA Research Institute hasPhototaxis in the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is mediated by rhodopsin-type photoreceptor(s). Recent expressed sequence tag database from the Kazusa DNA Research Institute has provided the basis for unequivocal identification of two archaeal-type rhodopsins in it. Here we demonstrate that one is located near the eyespot, wherein the photoreceptor(s) has long been thought to be enriched, along with the results of bioinformatic analyses. Secondary structure prediction showed that the second putative transmembrane helices (helix B) of these rhodopsins are rich in glutamate residues, and homology modeling suggested that some additional intra- or intermolecular interactions are necessary for opsin-like folding of the N-terminal ca. 300-aa membrane spanning domains of 712 and 737-aa polypeptides. These results complement physiological and electrophysiological experiments combined with the manipulation of their expression [O.A. Sineshchekov, K.H. Jung, J.H. Spudich, Proc. Natl. Sci. USA 99 (2002) 8689; G. Nagel, D. Olig, M. Fuhrmann, S. Kateriya, A.M. Musti, E. Bamberg, P. Hegemann, Science 296 (2002) 2395].

• A blue-light-activated adenylyl cyclase mediates photoavoidance in Euglena gracilis.

  Authors: Mineo Iseki, Shigeru Matsunaga, Akio Murakami, Kaoru Ohno, Kiyoshi Shiga, Kazuichi Yoshida, Michizo Sugai, Tetsuo Takahashi, Terumitsu Hori, Masakatsu Watanabe

  Nature. 03/2002; 415(6875):1047-51.

  Blue light regulates processes such as the development of plants and fungi and the behaviour of microbes. Two types of blue-light receptor flavoprotein have been identified: cryptochromes, which haveBlue light regulates processes such as the development of plants and fungi and the behaviour of microbes. Two types of blue-light receptor flavoprotein have been identified: cryptochromes, which have partial similarity to photolyases, and phototropins, which are photoregulated protein kinases. The former have also been found in animals with evidence of essential roles in circadian rhythms. Euglena gracilis, a unicellular flagellate, abruptly changes its swimming direction after a sudden increase or decrease in incident blue light intensity, that is, step-up or step-down photophobic responses, resulting in photoavoidance or photoaccumulation, respectively. Although these photobehaviours of Euglena have been studied for a century, the photoreceptor molecules mediating them have remained unknown. Here we report the discovery and biochemical characterization of a new type of blue-light receptor flavoprotein, photoactivated adenylyl cyclase, in the photoreceptor organelle of Euglena gracilis, with molecular genetic evidence that it mediates the step-up photophobic response.