A universal platform to control the spatiotemporal concentration of biomolecules using non-fluorescent dyes

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K19044
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 37:Biomolecular chemistry and related fields
• Research Institution: Kanazawa University
• Principal Investigator: Arai Satoshi 金沢大学, ナノ生命科学研究所, 准教授 (70454056)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): CLEMENS・MARTIN FRANZ 金沢大学, ナノ生命科学研究所, 准教授 (50837664)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-07-09 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 蛍光温度センサー / リポソーム / 無輻射失活 / 光ケージド

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this grant proposal, we focused on the temperature-sensitive lipid membranes that undergo a phase transition at a certain threshold temperature, and designed lipid nanoparticles where a photothermal dye was embedded in the membrane. We expected that very local heat generated by light irradiation directly affects the lipid bilayer membrane efficiently, causing a phase transition and releasing a biomolecule encapsulated in the liposomes. As expected, the encapsulated biomolecules could be released upon the light illumination. Furthermore, we found that the temperature increment nearby the liposomal membrane was scarce because the local heat was efficiently consumed in the phase transition. It should also be noted that relatively large molecules could be encapsulated and released by the light illumination. Our proposed system is assumed to be applied as a new tool for optical control of the spatiotemporal dynamics of concentrations of various biomolecules.

Free Research Field

ケミカルバイオロジー

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

細胞内外の生体分子の局所濃度を自在に操作できる技術は、ダイナミックな細胞機能を理解するための基礎生物学分野での研究ツールとして活用が期待できる。また、生体組織に親和性の高い近赤外レーザーを用いることから、薬剤を封入した粒子を調製し、光刺激を用いる新規なドラッグデリバリーシステムへも展開可能である。特に、従来の類似技術である光ケージド化合物を用いた方法と比べて、適用できる化合物の多様性（多くの水溶性の化合物を内包できる）、時空間分解能などの点で優位であるのも特徴である。