a mechanism of inward proton pumping. We demonstrate that the NsXeR is a powerful pump, which is able to elicit action potentials in rat hippocampal neuronal cells up to their maximal intrinsic firing frequency. Hence, inwardly directed proton pumps are suitable for light-induced remote control of neurons, and they are an alternative to the well-known cation-selective channelrhodopsins.22:T4ac,The new class of microbial rhodopsins, called xenorhodopsins (XeRs),^[1] extends the versatility of this family by inward H⁺ pumps.^[2-4] These pumps are an alternative optogenetic tool to the light-gated ion channels (e.g. ChR1,2), because the activation of electrically excitable cells by XeRs is independent from the surrounding physiological conditions. In this work we functionally and spectroscopically characterized XeR from Nanosalina (NsXeR).^[1] The photodynamic behavior of NsXeR was investigated on the ps to s time scale elucidating the formation of the J and K and a previously unknown long-lived intermediate. The pH dependent kinetics reveal that alkalization of the surrounding medium accelerates the photocycle and the pump turnover. In patch-clamp experiments the blue-light illumination of NsXeR in the M state shows a potential-dependent vectoriality of the photocurrent transients, suggesting a variable accessibility of reprotonation of the retinal Schiff base. Insights on the kinetically independent switching mechanism could furthermore be obtained by mutational studies on the putative intracellular H⁺ acceptor D220.23:T48a,Na(+)/H(+) antiporters show a marked pH dependence, which is important for their physiological function in eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. In NhaA, the Escherichia coli Na(+)/H(+) antiporter, specific single site mutations modulating the pH profile of the transporter have been described in the past. To clarify the mechanism by which these mutations influence the pH dependence of NhaA, the substrate dependence of the kinetics of selected NhaA variants was electrophysiologically investigated and analyzed with a kinetic model. It is shown that the mutations affect NhaA activity in quite different ways by changing the properties of the binding site or the dynamics of the transporter. In the first case, pK and/or KD(Na) are altered, and in the second case, the rate constants of the conformational transition between the inside and the outside open conformation are modified. It is shown that residues as far apart as 15-20 Å from the binding site can have a significant impact on the dynamics of the conformational transitions or on the binding properties of NhaA. The implications of these results for the pH regulation mechanism of NhaA are discussed.

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