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Noji Lab
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The lab studies biomolecular machines one molecule at a time and builds artificial cells.
AboutAbout the lab
Pursuing science to its limits and pioneering new technologies
The Noji Lab studies how the "biomolecular machines" that work inside the body function, examining them one molecule at a time.
At the core of its research is ATP synthase, and the lab was the first in the world to demonstrate that this enzyme is a rotary molecular motor.
Using a technology it developed for its research that arranges very small chambers in an array, the lab also works on analytical methods that count molecules one by one and on building artificial cells.
The lab aims to pursue curiosity-driven science to its fullest and to refine the technologies that emerge from it into forms that everyone can use.
Key terms
- ATP
- An energy-storing molecule that living things use to move their bodies and to make substances
- Molecular motor
- A protein that uses chemical energy to produce movement such as rotation
- Digital bioassay
- An analytical method that confines molecules one by one in very small chambers and measures their amount by counting the chambers in which a reaction occurred
NewsLab news
Joint research with Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology published in Nature Communications
A master's student received a Poster Award at the Annual Meeting of the Protein Science Society of Japan
Paper on mutational analysis of F1-ATPase published in Protein Science
Joint research with the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences published in Nature Communications
ResearchResearch themes
With single-molecule biophysics of ATP synthase as its main focus, the lab is uncovering how biomolecular machines convert energy. Using the unique technologies developed along the way, it is also advancing analytical methods that count molecules one by one and artificial cell reactors.
*Illustrative imageObserving the Rotation of ATP Synthase
ATP synthase is a molecular machine in which two rotary molecular motors are connected. Ever since demonstrating with an optical microscope that this enzyme rotates, the lab has worked to elucidate its mechanism.
*Illustrative imageCounting Molecules One by One
The lab is developing the "digital bioassay," in which molecules are confined one by one in a device with an array of very small chambers, and the amount of molecules is determined by counting the chambers that light up.
*Illustrative imageArtificial Cell Reactors
The lab has proteins made from a single DNA molecule inside small chambers in order to search for high-performance enzymes. Its ultimate goal is to create artificial cells that can replicate themselves.
MembersFaculty
The Noji Lab's members consist of faculty, academic specialists, secretaries and technical assistants, project researchers, and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorHiroyuki NojiPublications ↗
- Associate ProfessorKazuhito TabataPublications ↗
- LecturerUeno HiroshiPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorYoshihiro MinagawaPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorRyohei KobayashiPublications ↗
- Project Assistant ProfessorSvitlana Kovalchuk
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “1qo1 stereo” Del45 / Public domain (cropped)
- Observing the Rotation of ATP Synthase: “Atpsyntase4” The original uploader was Asw-hamburg at German Wikipedia. / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Counting Molecules One by One: “Lab on a Chip ( )” National Institute of Standards and Technology / Public domain (cropped)
- Artificial Cell Reactors: “Phosphatidylcholine liposomes stained with acridine orange” ArkhipovSergey / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Ishikita Lab): “PhotosystemII” Neveu,Curtis / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Yamaguchi Lab): “Manganese-dioxide-sample” Benjah-bmm27 / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Suzuki-Yamashita Lab): “Alfa-Keggin” Quimiprof / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Tsukamoto Lab): “TEM image of gold nanoparticles and nanorods” Fionán / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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