Nagoya Institute of Technology

Keio University

Restore Vision Inc.

Hideki Kandori

Kazuo Tsubota

Toshihide Kurihara

Yusaku Katada

Hiromitsu Kunimi

Shoko Hososhima

Shunta Shigemura

Satoshi Tsunoda

An excellent photosensitivity is exhibited by a protein including, at a position or positions corresponding to one or two or more positions selected from the group made of the following (1) to (3) in a first amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 1: (1) positions 39, 94, 98, 102, 110, 113, 114, 162, 224, 225, 230, 231, and 235, (2) positions 53, 61, 68, 74, 76, 80, 130, 137, 194, 195, 198, 200, 204, 205, 209, 210, 253, and 254, and (3) positions 46, 83, 84, 87, 90, 91, 116, 117, 120, 124, 139, 142, 143, 146, 173, 214, 216, 217, 238, 242, and 245, an amino acid residue different from that in the first amino acid sequence, and that has channel activity.

Photoresponsive protein and utilization thereof

The purpose of the present invention is to provide an agent for restoring a visual function or an agent for preventing the deterioration in a visual function, which has an excellent visual function restoring ability. The agent for regenerating a visual function or the agent for preventing the deterioration in a visual function according to the present invention contains, as an active ingredient, a chimeric protein having both an amino acid sequence for a microorganism-origin ion-transporting receptor rhodopsin and an amino acid sequence for an animal-origin G-protein-coupled receptor rhodopsin. The chimeric protein is preferably one in which an amino acid sequence for a cytoplasm-side second loop and/or a cytoplasm-side third loop in the amino acid sequence for the microorganism-origin ion-transporting receptor rhodopsin is substituted by an amino acid sequence for a cytoplasm-side second loop and/or a cytoplasm-side third loop in the G-protein-coupled receptor rhodopsin.

Agent for restoring visual function or agent for preventing deterioration in visual function

Provided are: a nucleic acid including a nucleic acid sequence encoding a chimeric protein including at least part of an ion-transporting receptor rhodopsin and at least part of a G protein-coupled receptor rhodopsin and a nucleic acid sequence encoding a signal sequence; and a nucleic acid including a nucleic acid sequence encoding a chimeric protein including at least part of an ion channeling receptor rhodopsin and at least part of a G protein-coupled receptor rhodopsin; and a nucleic acid construct including the nucleic acid sequences. The use of the nucleic acids or nucleic acid constructs prevents and suppresses the progress of retinal diseases, and enhances the visual cognitive behavioral function and visual function.

Nucleic acid construct that encodes chimeric rhodopsin

Growing community of inventors

Nagoya, Japan

Hideki Kandori