Structural analysis of primate blue-sensitive pigment by FTIR spectroscopy

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25620011
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Physical chemistry
• Research Institution: Nagoya Institute of Technology
• Principal Investigator: KANDORI Hideki 名古屋工業大学, 工学(系)研究科(研究院), 教授 (70202033)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 色覚 / 赤外分光 / 培養細胞 / 霊長類 / 水素結合

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Humans have two kinds of vision: twilight vision mediated by rhodopsin (Rh) and color vision achieved by three color pigments (blue, green and red). A common chromophore molecule, 11-cis retinal, is used to distinguish different colors in vision. While X-ray structure of Rh was determined, structural studies of color pigments lag far behind those of Rh. In 2010, we succeeded in structural analysis of monkey green and red sensitive pigments by use of low-temperature FTIR spectroscopy. In this project, we aimed at achieving the first structural analysis of blue pigment. By optimizing preparation and measuring conditions, we successfully obtained difference FTIR spectra of monkey blue at 77 K, which provided unique structural aspects to see blue lights. We are preparing the original paper, while I gave a keynote lecture in International Congress on Photobiology (Sep. 2014, Cordoba, Argentina).

Free Research Field

生物物理化学