2006 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Study of the primary reaction process of firefly bioluminescence by measurements of its time-resolved absorption and emission spectra
| Project/Area Number |
16540371
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Biophysics/Chemical physics
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| Research Institution | Toyo University |
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Principal Investigator |
WADA Naohisa Toyo University, Life Sciences, Professor, 生命科学部, 教授 (20120355)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
YOSHIDA Yasuhiko Toyo University, Engineering, Professor, 工学部, 教授 (80134500)
TANAKA Masatoshi Yokohama National University, Engineering, Professor, 工学研究院, 教授 (90130400)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2004 – 2006
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| Keywords | firefly luciferin / oxygenase / Caged-ATP / dioxetanone / bioenergy transducer / enzymatic reaction |
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| Research Abstract |
This project has been planed to clarify the primary reaction process of firefly bioluminescence in msec time resolution by spectroscopic methods. Term of project was formally divided into three years (2004〜2006). In the first term, there was a conspicuous technical problem concerning the use of caged-ATP (CATP), an ATP producing reagent by UV light. Against expectation that a laser pulse can induce the bioluminescence by the photochemical decomposition of CATP to ATP, it was found that the fluorescent intensity of substrate luciferin (Ln) is too high to detect the intrinsic intensity of bioluminescence and the latter could not be separated from the former due to the similar spectral peaks each other. In the second term, the improvement of the device was postponed to search for experimental conditions of reagents' preparation so that band shape of the decay curve of bio-luminescence was much more narrow. However, its signal was hard to be detected by the prepared device. In the last term, Dr. Tanaka was invited as an expert on the spectroscopic measurement of fast phenomena in time of msec order. The equipment adequate to resolve CATP was constructed using the mechanical shutter to prevent Ln fluorescence from blocking the weak light of bioluminescence and photocounting technique to improve the sensitivity of the detector. Thus the decay curve of bioluminescence triggered by laser pulses was observed for the first time in the msec time scale. As the results of the project, there are two papers published in certain international journals, six papers appeared in three books one of which was edited by Wada and the publication of 17 subjects at the domestic annual meetings and the international symposiums on bioluminescence and chemiluminescence.
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Research Products
(9 results)
