Team Director
Tomonobu Watanabe
Ph.D.
Laboratory for Comprehensive Bioimaging
Location :Kobe / Developmental Biology Buildings
E-mailtomowatanabe[at]riken.jp
Please replace [at] with @.
Light has been an essential modality in medical and life science for 400 years because of the availability of living specimens. When light passes through the biomaterial or when light emanates from the biomaterial, the light is modified/modulated by information inside the biomaterial. Our developmental aim is extract the biological information from the fluorescence or scattering light. We are also trying to apply the developed measurement technology to various fields such as medicine and agriculture. For example, Raman scattering light contains all the molecular information constituting a substance, and the Raman scattered light spectrum of the cell is very complicated. We exploit this complexity to make Raman scattered light spectrum into a cellular fingerprint that identifies the type and state of cells. In addition, this "cell fingerprinting technology" is developed as an evaluation method applicable without touching or damaging cells or tissues. We are conducting research and development on as many innovation seeds as possible by simultaneously developing both basic measurement principles and practical application techniques. We believe that these technologies support many biological research fields and contribute to industries and revitalize the community.
Research Theme
- Stem cell research by utilizing single molecule measurement for transcription factors.
- Development and application of cellular fingerprinting based on Raman spectroscopy
- Development and application of protein structural analysis based on second harmonic generation microscopy
- Development of whole tissue imaging
- The others
Selected Publications
Watanabe TM, Ueda S, Ishida S, et al.
Optical evaluation of internal damage to human hair based on second near-infrared window polarization microscopy.
International Journal of Cosmetic Science
46(6), 850-864 (2024)
doi: 10.1111/ics.12970
Fujita H, Haruki T, Sudo K, et al.
Yuragi biomarker concept for evaluating human induced pluripotent stem cells using heterogeneity-based Raman finger-printing.
Biophysics and Physicobiology
21(Supplemental), e211016 (2024)
doi: 10.2142/biophysico.bppb-v21.s016
Ichinose J, Oba K, Arase Y, et al.
Quantitative prediction of rice starch digestibility using Raman spectroscopy and multivariate calibration analysis.
Food Chemistry
435, 137505 (2024)
doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.137505
Okamoto K, Fujita H, Okada Y, et al.
Single-molecule tracking of Nanog and Oct4 in living mouse embryonic stem cells uncovers a feedback mechanism of pluripotency maintenance.
EMBO Journal
42(18), e112305 (2023)
doi: 10.15252/embj.2022112305
Fujita H, Kaneshiro J, Takeda M, et al.
Estimation of crossbridge-state during cardiomyocyte beating using second harmonic generation.
Life Science Alliance
6(7), e202302070 (2023)
doi: 10.26508/lsa.202302070
Kawai T, Mihara Y, Morita M, et al.
Quantitation of Cell Membrane Permeability of Cyclic Peptides by Single-Cell Cytoplasm Mass Spectrometry.
Analytical chemistry
93(7), 3370-3377 (2021)
doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.0c03901
Germond A, Panina Y, Shiga M, et al.
Following Embryonic Stem Cells, Their Differentiated Progeny, and Cell-State Changes During iPS Reprogramming by Raman Spectroscopy.
Analytical Chemistry
92, 14915-14923 (2020)
doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.0c01800
Kakizuka T, Takai A, Yoshizawa K, et al.
An improved fluorescent protein-based expression reporter system that utilizes bioluminescence resonance energy transfer and peptide-assisted complementation
Analytical chemistry
56, 3625-3628 (2020)
doi: 10.1039/C9CC08664A
David BG, Fujita H, Yasuda K, et al.
Linking substrate and nucleus via actin cytoskeleton in pluripotency maintenance of mouse embryonicstem cells.
Nat Protoc.
41, 101614 (2019)
doi: 10.1016/j.scr.2019.101614
Matsumoto K, Mitani TT, Horiguchi SA, et al.
Advanced CUBIC tissue clearing for whole-organ cell profiling
Nat Protoc.
14, 3506-3537 (2019)
doi: 10.1038/s41596-019-0240-9
Kaneshiro J, Okada Y, Shima T, et al.
Second harmonic generation polarization microscopy as a tool for protein structure analysis.
Biophys Physicobiol.
16, 147-157 (2019)
doi: 10.2142/biophysico.16.0_147
Germond A, Ichimura T, Horinouchi T, et al.
Raman spectral signature reflects transcriptomic features of antibiotic resistance.
Communications Biology
1, 85 (2018)
doi: 10.1038/s42003-018-0093-8
Okamoto K, Germond A, Fujita H, et al.
Single cell analysis reveals a biophysical aspect of collective cell-state transition in embryonic stem cell differentiation.
Sci Rep.
8, 11965 (2018)
doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-30461-2
Morikawa TJ, Fujita H, Kitamura A, et al.
Dependence of fluorescent protein brightness on protein concentration in solution and enhancement of it.
Scientific Reports
6, 22342 (2016)
doi: 10.1038/srep22342
Ichimura T, Chiu L, Fujita K, et al.
Visualizing the appearance and disappearance of the attractor of differentiation using Raman spectral imaging.
Scientific Reports
5, 11358 (2015)
doi: 10.1038/srep11358
Members
Tomonobu Watanabe
Team Director
Yasuhiro Maeda
Technical Scientist
Go Shioi
Technical Scientist
Junya Ichinose
Research Scientist
Michiko Inoue
Technical Staff I
Yuki Tano
Assistant
News
Feb. 12, 2021 Research
Raman spectroscopy provides non-invasive way to track cell reprogramming
Dec. 2, 2019 BDR News
Dive into BDR's intriguing research
Teamwork of Specialists from Different Fields Propels Biological Research
Mar. 22, 2019 Research
Combining two spectroscopy techniques reveals how single cells respond to new drugs