today, using new and renewable energy sources to replace fossil fuels is greatly expanded. the solar cells are devices that convert solar energy to electrical energy. solar cells based on organic materials, especially proteins, are one of these solar cells. for example, bacteriorhodopsin (br) which is one of the membrane proteins in halobacterium salinarum could be used in solar cells and parti...

The function of three types of bacteriorhodopsins was compared: the wild-type, the bleached and retinal reconstituted and retinal deficient bacteriorhodopsin after retinal addition. The apparent pK(a) of the proton acceptor group for the bleached BR and retinal deficient BR shifted toward higher pH values compared to the wild-type BR. Fitting the photocycle model to the absorption kinetic signa...

Spin-dependent photoluminescence (PL) quenching of CdSe nanoparticles (NPs) has been explored in the hybrid system of CdSe NP purple membrane, wild-type bacteriorhodopsin (bR) thin film on a ferromagnetic (Ni-alloy) substrate. A significant change in the PL intensity from the CdSe NPs has been observed when spin-specific charge transfer occurs between the retinal and the magnetic substrate. Thi...

The regeneration method of Khorana [J. Biol. Chem. 262 (1987) 9271] has been modified in order to study the effect of endogenous archaeabacterial lipids and, in particular, of glycocardiolipin (GlyC) in the refolding and chromophore regeneration of bacteriorhodopsin (BR). BR refolding and chromophore regeneration could be obtained in the presence of endogenous lipid mixtures containing or not c...

Transient spikes from the bacteriorhodopsin (bR) photocycle are triggered with NIR irradiation for the first time by integrating bR with upconversion nanoparticles. This work may open new horizons for the bR applications in the IR wavelength range.

Bacteriorhodopsin (BR), a membrane protein of a microorganism Halobacterium salinarium has been studied since the 80's as a potential material for information technology. The information processing applications of BR employ either photochromic or photoelectric properties of the protein. In this study we discuss about design principles and describe our study of the use of bacteriorhodopsin as a ...

For the first time, a multilayered WO(3) x H(2)O/PVA membrane on bacteriorhodopsin (bR) is constructed to significantly enhance the photoelectric response of bR by the spillover effect of WO(3) x H(2)O nanocrystals, providing great potential in its important applications in bioelectronics and proton exchange membrane fuel cells.

The photocycle of the acid-purple form of bacteriorhodopsin (BR) was studied by multiwavelength absorption kinetic measurements. The data were evaluated using a new method based on the differences in the kinetics of the absorption changes at different wavelengths [Tokaji, Zs. (1995) FEBS Lett. 357, 156-160]. The evaluation indicates that, in contrast to the previous suggestion, the photocycle o...

The membrane protein bacteriorhodopsin (BR) can be kept soluble in its native state for months in the absence of detergent by amphipol (APol) A8-35, an amphiphilic polymer. After an actinic flash, A8-35-complexed BR undergoes a complete photocycle, with kinetics intermediate between that in detergent solution and that in its native membrane. BR/APol complexes form well defined, globular particl...

SMA-Lipodisq nanoparticles, with one bacteriorhodopsin (bR) per 12 nm particle on average (protein/lipid molar ratio, 1:172), were prepared without the use of detergents. Using pulsed and continuous wave nitroxide spin label electron paramagnetic resonance, the structural and dynamic integrity of bR was retained when compared with data for bR obtained in the native membrane and in detergents an...