Investigation, modification and utilization of the retinal proteins

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15H04363
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Biophysics
• Research Institution: Okayama University
• Principal Investigator: Sudo Yuki 岡山大学, 医歯薬学総合研究科, 教授 (10452202)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): TSUKAMOTO Takashi 岡山大学, 大学院医歯薬学総合研究科(薬学系), 助教 (30744271)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 生物物理 / ロドプシン / レチナール / 光遺伝学 / オプトジェネティクス / 生体分子 / 分子機械 / 膜タンパク質

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Retinal protein, also called "rhodopsin", has a vitamin-A aldehyde as a chromophore. It is widely distributed in the three biological domains (animals, bacteria, archaea), and is responsible for various light-dependent functions. In addition to such biological interests, recently, the new technology called "optogenetics" which is a method for controlling biological activities by light, has been established as a collaborative work with the retinal proteins. In this research, based on the background, we investigated the retinal proteins fundamentally by using various methods. Then we modified the molecular properties to develop the novel optogenetics tools that can be widely utilized for scientific research.

Free Research Field

生物物理学