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Photophysical Chemistry Lab
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A lab that uses laser spectroscopy to capture the dynamics of proteins and photosynthesis.
AboutAbout the lab
Capturing protein motion and fluctuation with lasers
The Photophysical Chemistry Lab uses laser spectroscopy and laser spectroscopic microscopy imaging to study the structures, dynamic properties, reactivity, and intermolecular interactions of molecules and molecular assemblies.
The lab also studies how molecules and molecular assemblies function inside cells.
The lab studies the reactions and the structural and fluctuation dynamics of proteins, which are biomolecules, as well as the photosynthetic membranes of chloroplasts and cyanobacteria.
Key terms
- Transient grating method
- A method that uses the interference fringes created by laser light to measure changes in molecular volume and diffusion over time
- Protein folding
- The process by which an unfolded protein folds into its defined three-dimensional structure
- Thylakoid membrane
- The membrane inside chloroplasts and similar structures where the reactions of photosynthesis take place
NewsLab news
A doctoral student receives the Ginpu Award of the Graduate School of Science
An explanatory article on measuring the reaction dynamics of biomolecules with the transient grating method is published in Seibutsu Butsuri (Biophysics)
ResearchResearch themes
The lab studies protein reaction dynamics and the properties of photosynthetic membranes using laser spectroscopy and microspectroscopy.
*Illustrative imageProtein Reactions and Fluctuations
To capture, in a time-resolved manner, the structural changes of whole proteins after stimulation, their reactions with target molecules, and folding, the lab mainly uses the transient grating method to investigate changes in molecular volume and diffusion from the microsecond range onward.
*Illustrative imageMicrospectroscopy of Photosynthetic Membranes
To understand changes in the fine structure of the photosynthetic membranes (thylakoid membranes) of chloroplasts and cyanobacteria, and the photochemical properties of each fine structure, the lab has developed an original laser microspectroscopy system and applies it to living photosynthetic organisms.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Photophysical Chemistry Lab are faculty, secretaries, technical assistants, doctoral and master's students, and fourth-year undergraduates in the Faculty of Science.As of 2026
- Associate ProfessorShigeichi Kumazaki
- Assistant ProfessorYusuke Nakasone
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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: “Innerworkings of a thylakoid” OpenStax College, Biology / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Protein Reactions and Fluctuations: “Olympus-BX61-fluorescence microscope” Masur / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Microspectroscopy of Photosynthetic Membranes: “Chloroplast in leaf of Anemone sp TEM 12000x” and3k and caper437 / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (量子化学研究室): “Amniote rhodopsin 3D structures” Constanze Bickelmann / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Tochio Lab
（京都大学理学研究科生物物理学教室構造生理学分科） ): “Protein HMOX2 PDB 2q32” Emw / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped) - Related lab (生物構造化学研究室): “Glycine and glutamate bound Human GluN1a-GluN2D NMDA receptor - Glutamate receptor ionotropic, NMDA 1 - 8E96” Chou, T.-H., Furukawa, H. / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab (分子性材料研究室): “The sample of BEDT-TTF” 四月朔日朔良 / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
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