Multisensing photoreceptors
Photoreceptors have classically been studied as pure light sensors, yet the natural settings they operate in couple light exposure to simultaneous shifts in temperature and oxidative state.
Whether a single receptor scaffold can reliably integrate such disparate inputs without sacrificing signaling specificity has remained a central open question in sensory biology.
Recent biophysical work has identified specific mechanisms, from phase separation and oligomeric switching to phosphorylation-mode transitions and direct redox sensing via conserved cysteines, by which photoreceptors read out temperature and oxidative state.
These findings indicate that multisensing is a widespread, inherent feature of photoreceptor scaffolds across kingdoms, potentially reflecting an ancestral property rather than a secondary elaboration.
https://www.cell.com/trends/biochemical-sciences/fulltext/S0968-0004(26)00327-0
