A combination of cryo-electron microscopy, structure prediction, and evolutionary analyses reveal several functional states of the dynamic protein translocation machinery at the mammalian endoplasmic reticulum.

Animal G-protein-coupled bistable rhodopsins can regulate Gq- and Gi-mediated signaling in a light-dependent manner in neurons and cardiomyocytes, making them useful for analyzing the roles of GPCR signaling in vivo.

Through a single mutation at position 188, vertebrate rhodopsin acquires the ability to recover the dark state from the active state by a thermal reaction and by a photoreaction.

A new opsin receptor is light-sensitive and expressed in a unique type of photoreceptor in a flatworm that encloses over 400 sensory cilia within its cell membrane.

The 'missing' class of Caenorhabditis elegans excitatory motor neurons, AS, contribute to propagation and coordination of body waves, integrating information from, and feeding back to premotor interneurons byelectrical signaling.

TGFβ family members instruct a cell fate decision downstream of stochastic signaling in the Drosophila retina to ensure correct pairing between different color photoreceptors for color vision.