Team Leader
Keiichi Namba*
D.Eng.
Laboratory for Supramolecular System Dynamics Research
[Closed Mar. 2022]
*Current email address : keiichi[at]fbs.osaka-u.ac.jp
Please replace [at] with @.
To gain deep understanding of the mechanisms of biomolecular motor protein assemblies, such as bacterial flagella and actomyosins, we make combined use of electron cryomicroscopy and image analysis with X-ray diffraction and optical nanophotometry as well as genetic engineering and protein biochemistry to visualize their three-dimensional structures and dynamics at high-temporal and spatial resolution. We also develop advanced technologies of electron cryomicroscopy and image analysis as well as optical nanophotometry on our own.
Research Theme
- Structures and functions of biomolecular motor assemblies such as bacterial flagella and actomyosins
- Technical development in electron cryomicroscopy and image analysis for high-resolution, high-throughput structural analysis
Selected Publications
Fujii T, Matsunami H, Inoue Y, Namba K.
Evidence for the hook supercoiling mechanism of the bacterial flagellum.
Biophysics and Physicobiology
15, 28-32 (2018)
doi: 10.2142/biophysico.15.0_28
Sakai T, Inoue Y, Terahara N, et al.
A triangular loop of domain D1 of FlgE is essential for hook assembly but not for the mechanical function.
Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications
495, 1789-1794 (2018)
doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2017.12.037
Kinoshita M, Namba K, Minamino T.
Effect of a clockwise-locked deletion in FliG on the FliG ring structure of the bacterial flagellar motor.
Genes to cells : devoted to molecular & cellular mechanisms
23(3), 241-247 (2018)
doi: 10.1111/gtc.12565
Inoue Y, Morimoto YV, Namba K, Minamino T.
Novel insights into the mechanism of well-ordered assembly of bacterial flagellar proteins in Salmonella.
Scientific reports
8(1), 1787 (2018)
doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-20209-3
Terahara N, Kodera N, Uchihashi T, et al.
Na+-induced structural transition of MotPS for stator assembly of Bacillus flagellar motor.
Science Advances
3, eaao0419 (2017)
doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aao4119
Pourjaberi SNS, Terahara N, Namba K, et al.
The role of a cytoplasmic loop of MotA in load-dependent assembly and disassembly dynamics of the MotA/B stator complex in the bacterial flagellar motor.
Molecular Microbiology
106, 646-658 (2017)
doi: 10.1111/mmi.13843
Fukumura T, Makino F, Dietsche T, et al.
Assembly and stoichiometry of the core structure of the bacterial flagellar type III export gate complex.
PLOS Biology
15(8), e2002281(22pp) (2017)
doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2002281
Kinoshita M, Aizawa S, Inoue Y, et al.
The role of intrinsically disordered C-terminal region of FliK in substrate specificity switching of the bacterial flagellar type III export apparatus.
Molecular Microbiology
105, 572-588 (2017)
doi: 10.1111/mmi.13718
Hiraoka KD, Morimoto YV, Inoue Y, et al.
Straight and rigid flagellar hook made by insertion of the FlgG specific sequence into FlgE.
Scientific Reports
7, 46723(8pp) (2017)
doi: 10.1038/srep46723
Terahara N, Noguchi Y, Nakamura S, et al.
Load- and polysaccharide-dependent activation of the Na+-type MotPS stator in the Bacillus subtilis flagellar motor.
Scientific Reports
7, 46081(11pp) (2017)
doi: 10.1038/srep46081
Renault TT, Abraham AO, Bergmiller T, et al.
Bacterial flagella grow through an injection-diffusion mechanism.
eLife
6, e23136 (2017)
doi: 10.7554/eLife.23136