Yusuke Sakai
LightNews LightNews
banner
yusakai.bsky.social
Yusuke Sakai
@yusakai.bsky.social
59 followers 58 following 5 posts
Research Associate at University of Manchester; Opsin; GPCR; Optogenetics; Vision; Coral; Guppy; Sensory systems;
Posts Replies Media Videos
yusakai.bsky.social
How eye-less corals see the light | EurekAlert! www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
How eye-less corals see the light
Researchers have discovered that reef-building corals use chloride ions, rather than amino acids, to absorb visible light in their light-sensing proteins, called opsins. This unique mechanism allows o...
www.eurekalert.org
September 8, 2025 at 6:36 AM
yusakai.bsky.social
Delighted to share the latest Version of Record of our paper identifying chloride couterion in coral opsins!
doi.org/10.7554/eLif...
Coral anthozoan-specific opsins employ a novel chloride counterion for spectral tuning
Environmental chloride ions act as essential counterions that enable coral opsins to respond to visible light, and the polar residue Glu292 plays a critical role in chloride binding.
doi.org
September 1, 2025 at 8:55 PM
yusakai.bsky.social
Visible light-sensitive versions of human OPN5 published in FEBS letters!
doi.org/10.1002/1873...
FEBS Press
The present study determines a key amino acid residue, Lys91, for defining UV sensitivity of human OPN5. Heterologous action spectroscopy of the wild type and K91 mutants of OPN5 in HEK293T cells rev....
doi.org
August 21, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Reposted by Yusuke Sakai
biorxivpreprint.bsky.social
Development of visible light-sensitive human OPN5 via single amino acid substitution https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.05.19.654910v1
May 23, 2025 at 11:49 PM
yusakai.bsky.social
A latest study has been published online in Zoological Science. We examine detailed G protein selectivity and second messenger signalling of unique Gq-coupled coral opsins and compare them with a representative Gq-coupled opsin, jumping spider Rh1, and Gq-DREADD, hM3Dq.
doi.org/10.2108/zs24...
Characterization of Anthozoan-Specific Opsins from a Reef-Building Coral, Acropora tenuis, as Gq-Coupled Opsins
Most animals capture light through opsins, which are light-sensitive G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Recent genome analyses of anthozoans, including corals and sea anemones, have identified novel...
doi.org
March 30, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Reposted by Yusuke Sakai
jekely.biologists.social.ap.brid.gy
New preprint from the lab on #coral larval light responses, including ciliary arrests and body-wide contractions.

Led by Emelie Brodrick, in collaboration with @micromotility.bsky.social

#biology #cilia @ERC_Research
#hfsp https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.06.636794v1
February 7, 2025 at 10:25 AM
yusakai.bsky.social
Our latest preprint about spectroscopic properties of unique #coral #opsins has been uploaded on bioRxiv.
Coral anthozoan-specific opsins employ a novel chloride counterion for spectral tuning|
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Coral anthozoan-specific opsins employ a novel chloride counterion for spectral tuning
Animal opsins are G protein coupled receptors that have evolved to sense light by covalently binding a retinal chromophore via a protonated (positively charged) Schiff base. A negatively charged amino...
www.biorxiv.org
December 18, 2024 at 5:53 PM