Patent ID: 7144733

Claim:
A method of sensitizing a cell to light, comprising the steps of: (a) introducing into the cell a nucleic acid encoding an opsin gene product, a nucleic acid encoding an arrestin gene product, and a nucleic acid encoding the alpha subunit of a heterotrimeric G protein; so that the opsin gene product, the arrestin gene product, and the alpha subunit of a heterotrimeric G protein are expressed in said cell; and (b) contacting said cell with retinal or a derivative thereof so as to convert said opsin gene product into a rhodopsin, wherein the method is performed in vitro, the cell is a neuron, the heteromeric C protein encoded by the nucleic acid comprises a Drosophila melanogster G q α protein, the arrestin gene product is an arrestin-2 gene product of Drosphila melanogaster and the opsin gene product is selected from the group consisting of an insect opsin gene product, a Drosophila opsin gene product, ninaE and engineered variants of an opsin gene product.