Fly cryptochrome and the visual system

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013 Apr 9;110(15):6163-8. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1212317110. Epub 2013 Mar 27.

Abstract

Cryptochromes are flavoproteins, structurally and evolutionarily related to photolyases, that are involved in the development, magnetoreception, and temporal organization of a variety of organisms. Drosophila CRYPTOCHROME (dCRY) is involved in light synchronization of the master circadian clock, and its C terminus plays an important role in modulating light sensitivity and activity of the protein. The activation of dCRY by light requires a conformational change, but it has been suggested that activation could be mediated also by specific "regulators" that bind the C terminus of the protein. This C-terminal region harbors several protein-protein interaction motifs, likely relevant for signal transduction regulation. Here, we show that some functional linear motifs are evolutionarily conserved in the C terminus of cryptochromes and that class III PDZ-binding sites are selectively maintained in animals. A coimmunoprecipitation assay followed by mass spectrometry analysis revealed that dCRY interacts with Retinal Degeneration A (RDGA) and with Neither Inactivation Nor Afterpotential C (NINAC) proteins. Both proteins belong to a multiprotein complex (the Signalplex) that includes visual-signaling molecules. Using bioinformatic and molecular approaches, dCRY was found to interact with Neither Inactivation Nor Afterpotential C through Inactivation No Afterpotential D (INAD) in a light-dependent manner and that the CRY-Inactivation No Afterpotential D interaction is mediated by specific domains of the two proteins and involves the CRY C terminus. Moreover, an impairment of the visual behavior was observed in fly mutants for dCRY, indicative of a role, direct or indirect, for this photoreceptor in fly vision.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Motifs
  • Animals
  • Binding Sites
  • Computational Biology
  • Cryptochromes / physiology*
  • Drosophila Proteins / physiology*
  • Drosophila melanogaster / metabolism
  • Drosophila melanogaster / physiology*
  • Electroretinography
  • Eye Proteins / physiology*
  • Flavoproteins / metabolism
  • Light
  • Mass Spectrometry
  • Protein Interaction Mapping
  • Signal Transduction
  • Two-Hybrid System Techniques
  • Vision, Ocular / physiology*

Substances

  • Cryptochromes
  • Drosophila Proteins
  • Eye Proteins
  • Flavoproteins
  • cry protein, Drosophila