Osaka University - Protonic NanoMachine Group

Protonic NanoMachine Group targets at the ultimate understanding of the mechanisms of self-assembly and its regulation, conformational switching, force generation, and energy transduction by biological macromolecular complexes. By convergence of complementary techniques, such as X-ray diffraction and electron cryomicroscopy for high-resolution analysis of three-dimensional structures, and optical and electronic measurements on individual molecular complexes for analyzing their dynamic behaviors, they try to discover the basic principles behind their functional mechanisms, in the belief that they will become a basis for artificial nanomachine design and nanotechnology.

Their main areas of research are:

1. Mechanism of self-assembly and its regulation

2. Mechanism of conformational switching

3. Torque generation mechanism

4. Energy transduction mechanism

5. Protein export mechanism

6. Design principles for protein nanomachine