Mesoscopic Monte Carlo simulations of stochastic encounters between photoactivated rhodopsin and transducin in disc membranes

The issue of how the molecular organization of rod outer segments (ROS) discs might affect the timing of the photoresponse is addressed by explicitly simulating a patch of disc membrane in which the classical and the recent frameworks are compared by using mesoscopic Monte Carlo (MMC) simulations. An unexpected favorable effect on the temporal response of early phototransduction reactions can occur if high-density rhodopsin packing on ROS discs is characterized by a highly ordered structured organization rather than unspecific aggregation.