Bio-π-space in photoreceptive proteins : Spectroscopic investigation and creation of new functions

2010 Fiscal Year Self-evaluation Report

• Project Area: Emergence of highly elaborated pai-space and its function
• Project/Area Number: 20108014
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (Research in a proposed research area)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Review Section: Science and Engineering
• Research Institution: Nagoya Institute of Technology
• Principal Investigator: KANDORI Hideki Nagoya Institute of Technology, 大学院・工学研究科, 教授 (70202033)
• Project Period (FY): 2008 – 2012
• Keywords: π空間 / 生体分子 / 発色団 / 赤外分光 / アミノ酸変異

Research Abstract

生体分子は進化の中で最適化されたπ空間の制御系であり、蛋白質などのナノ反応場が精緻な制御を可能にしている。とりわけ光受容蛋白質は、レチナール、クロロフィル、フラビンといった分子のπ電子系を制御することでユニークな色や反応、機能を産み出しており、ボトムアップ型の高次π空間を創製するにあたってのゴールともみなすことができる。
本研究では、蛋白質による特異な波長制御、反応制御、機能制御に着目し、赤外分光などの分光学的手法を用いてメカニズムを原子レベルで解明する。例えば、類似の構造をもちながら異なった機能を発現できる蛋白質場の不思議さを、アミノ酸の変異を利用して詳細に解析するとともに、蛋白質場を用いて新しい機能の開拓にも挑戦する。具体的な研究対象としては、研究代表者のグループが世界をリードすると評価されているロドプシンや光合成反応中心、フラビン蛋白質を考えている。

Research Products

• [Journal Article] Protein fluctuations as the possible origin of the thermal activation of rod photoreceptors in the dark (2010)
  • Author(s): V.A.Lorenz-Fonfria, Y.Furutani.T.Ota, K.Ido, H.Kandori
  • Journal Title: J.Am.Chem.Soc. 132 Pages: 5693-5703
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] High-speed atomic force microscopy shows dynamic molecular processes in photoactivated bacteriorhodopsin (2010)
  • Author(s): M.Shibata, H.Yamashita, T.Uchihashi, H.Kandori, T.Ando
  • Journal Title: Nature Nanotech. 5 Pages: 208-212
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] An FTIR study of monkey green- and red-sensitive visual pigments (2010)
  • Author(s): K.Katayama, Y.Furutani, H.Imai, H.Kandori
  • Journal Title: Angew.Chem.Int.Ed. 49 Pages: 891-894
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Engineering an inward proton transport from a bacterial sensor rhodopsin (2009)
  • Author(s): A.Kawanabe, Y.Furutani, K.-H.Jung, H.Kandori
  • Journal Title: J.Am.Chem.Soc. 131 Pages: 16439-16444
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Color change of proteorhodopsin by a single amino acid replacement at a distant cytoplasmic loop (2008)
  • Author(s): M.Yoshitugu, M.Shibata, D.Ikeda, Y.Furutani, H.Kandori
  • Journal Title: Angew.Chem.Int.Ed. 47 Pages: 3923-3926
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Presentation] Active internal waters in visual and microbial rhodopsins (2011)
  • Author(s): H.Kandori
  • Organizer: Keystone Symposia on .Transmembrane Signaling by GPCRs and Channels.
  • Place of Presentation: Taos, USA (Invited)
  • Year and Date: 2011-01-25
• [Presentation] Mechanism of light-driven ion pumps (2010)
  • Author(s): H.Kandori
  • Organizer: PACIFICHEM 2010
  • Place of Presentation: Honolulu, USA (Invited).
  • Year and Date: 2010-12-20
• [Presentation] FTIR study of rhodopsins (2010)
  • Author(s): H.Kandori
  • Organizer: 14th International Conference on Retinal Proteins
  • Place of Presentation: Santa Cruz, USA (Invited).
  • Year and Date: 2010-08-05
• [Presentation] Structural changes accompanying retinal photoisomerization in rhodopsins (2009)
  • Author(s): H.Kandori
  • Organizer: XXIV International Conference on Photochemistry
  • Place of Presentation: Toledo, Spain (Invited).
  • Year and Date: 2009-07-21
• [Presentation] FTIR study of rhodopsins in action (2009)
  • Author(s): H.Kandori
  • Organizer: 15th International Congress on Photobiology
  • Place of Presentation: Dusseldorf, Germany (Invited).
  • Year and Date: 2009-06-22
• [Book] Hydrogen bonding and transfer in the excited state(Hydrogen bonds of protein-bound water molecules in rhodopsins) (2010)
  • Author(s): H.Kandori
  • Total Pages: 377-391
  • Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Ltd, West Sussex
• [Remarks] 神取研究室HP
  • URL: http://www.ach.nitech.ac.jp/~physchem/kandori/index_j.html