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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2010 May 25.
Published in final edited form as: Biochem J. 2010 Apr 28;428(1):1–10. doi: 10.1042/BJ20100270

Figure 2. Possible organization of the Rho*–Gt complex in rod outer segment membranes.

Figure 2

(A) Size comparison of a Rho monomer (PDB ID: 1F88) and a Gt molecule (PDB ID: 1GOT). The approximate position of the lipid bilayer is shown with black lines. Location of the contacting surfaces is based on modelling studies [52]. The area of projection of Gt on the plane of the membrane is approximately four times that of Rho. A three-dimensional interactive version of this Figure is available at http://www.BiochemJ.org/bj/428/0001/bj4280001add.htm. (B) Rho*–Gt complexes on the surface of rod outer segment membranes composed of randomly distributed Rho monomers (left-hand panel) and Rho dimers organized in rows (right-hand panel), as suggested by AFM studies [68]. Rho occupies approx. 50% of the surface of the membrane. The molar ratio of Rho monomer to Gt is ~10:1 [32,47]. Tight packing of Rho molecules favours their tight organization to reduce the total occupied area and avoid steric clashes. A high abundance of Gt molecules on the surface of the membrane may promote formation of Gt clusters.