18
Laboratory for Biological Motility
Associate Professor / FUJIWARA Ikuko
- Capturing muscle movement at the molecular level
- Development of new bio-devices
- Free to conduct experiments
Associate Professor / FUJIWARA Ikuko
Ms. Fujiwara is a kind and cheerful teacher. At least once a day she shows up to our room and talks to us. She answers our questions thoroughly. We can have her directly supervise us when performing experiments, and we can ask her questions if necessary if we have any questions.
Research Content
One of the cellular motilities is caused by actin and myosin. A well-known unit is called a sarcomere. Sarcomeres contain two main filaments, myosin and actin, that slide against each other to cause muscle contraction. In this lab, muscle contractions are reconstructed using prified myosin and actin, then we observed those under light microscopes. This allows us to study how living organisms move. We also collaborate with companies and other organizations to develop various biosensors.
Quarts Crystal Microbalance(QCM), one of the bio-sensors
A Day in the Lab
Our lab has no core time, because this laboratory values student independence. Therefore, students can design their own experiments at any time during the day or at other times. The atmosphere in our laboratory is cheerful, and we sometimes enjoy chatting with each other to relax. Also, the teacher and seniors students are kind and answer any trivial questions.
Experimental scene
Thesis Subjects
- (M)Understanding the orientation of actin subunits conjugating with jasplakinolide or phalloidin by FRET measurements
- (M)QCM may detect changes in actin filaments brought by the association and dissociation of myosin
- (M)Measurement of motor protein ATPase and binding reactions by QCM
The number of
PhD Graduates
5
Major employers of Graduates
- Bourbon Corporation
- NTT Advanced Technology Corporation
- Echigoseika co., ltd.
- FUJI BAKING GROUP Co., Ltd.
- Hokuriku Gas Co., Ltd.
- KYOCERA SOC Corporation
- Nagaoka City
- Oyanagi Construction inc.
- EBARA JITSUGYO CO., LTD.
- Nippon Gijutsu Center Co., Ltd.
