奈良先端科学技術大学院大学 物質創成科学領域

Staff & Contact

Education and Research Activities in the Laboratory

There are no physical limitations to the miniaturization of a machine down to the scale of a single molecule or conversely, to monumentalize a molecule until it becomes a machine. A molecular machine is a molecule designed to perform a function providing energy, data or/and orders to the molecule. Inspiration from mother nature and from modern technologies has given rise to the concept of biomimetic and technomimetic molecular machines respectively. Also, synthetic mimics of natural molecular machines in biological systems will contribute to clarifying the minimal design of biologically-active agents.
The Biomimetic and Technomimetic Molecular Science Laboratory studies molecules which can act as machines at the nanoscale. Thanks to an input signal as an energy source (light, electron, or chemical) these molecular machines can produce a controllable motion and then to a useful output.

Research Themes

1. Technomimetic molecular machines

Technomimetic molecular machines are molecules designed to imitate macroscopic objects at the molecular level, and also to transpose the motions that these objects are able to undergo. Our originality is in the design of molecular machines and devices operating at the atomic scale for molecular mechanical applications: gears,1 vehicles,2 etc. We are designing, synthesizing, organizing and synchronizing such molecular nanodevices to develop energy, communication and information transfer at the nanoscale under the action of light, heat or electrons.

2. Biomimetic molecular machines

Biomimetic molecular machines are molecules inspired by nature. For instance, ATP-synthase is a fantastic motor present in all the cells to stock energy by converting ADP in ATP during a clockwise rotation of the rotor subunit while it can also release energy on-demand by hydrolyzing ATP in ADP through a counterclockwise rotation. This biomolecular motor inspired us to design and synthesized a molecular analog 20 times smaller in size but with a similar behavior.3 We also design Hybrid molecular machines4 to build new generation molecular machines and materials. Insertion of photoactive or electroactive molecular devices in membranes or in cells may induce some interesting biological activities.

3. Mimetics of proteins / peptides by synthetic polymer

Proteins and peptides are essential macromolecules necessary for various biological functions in living systems. Our challenge is to establish a design principle of synthetic polymers that express biological activities by mimicking natural proteins or peptides. We have been developing membrane-active polymers that can express biological activities such as antimicrobial5, anticancer, and antiamyloid. Also, a series of amphiphilic polymers or lipids have been designed for the fabrication of an artificial cell membrane6.

Recent Research Papers and Achievements

1. Extended tripodal hydrotris(indazol-1-yl)borate ligands as ruthenium-supported cogwheels for on-surface gearing motions. K. Omoto, M. Shi, K. Yasuhara, C. Kammerer, G. Rapenne, Chem. Eur. J. 2023, 29, e202203483.
2. A dipolar nanocar based on a porphyrin backbone T. Nishino, C. Martin, H. Takeuchi, F. Lim, K. Yasuhara, Y. Gisbert, C. Kammerer, G. Rapenne, Chem. Eur. J. 2020, 26, 12010.
3. Controlled clockwise and anticlockwise rotational switching of a molecular motor G. Rapenne, S.-W. Hla et al, Nature Nanotech. 2013, 8, 46.
4. A molecular motor functionalized with a photoresponsive brake R Asato, C.J. Martin, Y. Gisbert, F. Asanoma, T. Nakashima, C. Kammerer, T. Kawai, G. Rapenne, Inorg. Chem. 2021, 60, 3492.
5. Mechanistic Study of Membrane Disruption by Antimicrobial Methacrylate Random Copolymers by the Single Giant Vesicle Method M. Tsukamoto, E. Zappala, G. A. Caputo, J. Kikuchi, K. Najarian, K. Kuroda, K. Yasuhara, Langmuir 2021, 37, 9982-9995.
6. Synthetic mimics of membrane-active proteins and peptides K. Yasuhara, in Plasma membrane Shaping, Elsevier, 2022, pp.159-173.