Budget Amount *help |
¥4,550,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,050,000)
Fiscal Year 2013: ¥1,040,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥240,000)
Fiscal Year 2012: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥300,000)
Fiscal Year 2011: ¥2,210,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥510,000)
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Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Microbial rhodopsins function as either light-driven ion pumps or photosensors. In this study, structural dynamics of microbial rhodopsins were revealed by time-resolved resonance Raman spectroscopy. First, protein responses to photoisomerization of the retinal chromophore in the picosecond regime were investigated. Spectral changes in the ultraviolet resonance Raman bands due to the tryptophan and tyrosine residues in the vicinity of the chromophore were observed. It was found that the rates of primary protein response to the chromophore isomerization are similar among the rhodopsins. Second, temporal evolutions of the chromophore structure after nanoseconds were investigated by visible resonance Raman spectroscopy. For ion pumps, we revealed the structural changes of the hydrogen-bond network around the retinal chromophore which facilitate the ion pumping.
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