RESEARCH

Research Theme of Active matter lab

“Active matter” is a substance that has a mechanism that converts the energy stored in chemical substances and light into mechanical work. It has characteristics not found in existing materials in that it spontaneously expresses movement.
We would like to pursue the scientific theory related to such active matter and create new materials based on it to eventually unveil the mystery of life!

Keywords

Swarming (Biotic and Abiotic matter)
Self organization
Molecular robot
Molecular computing
Biomechanics
Active Colloids
Pattern formation
Non-equilibrium system

Material of interest

Biomolecular motor (Microtubule/Kinesin, Actin/Myosin)
DNA, DNA nanostructures
Living organism (Tetrahymena)
Colloid system
Hydrogel

Microscope | 顕微鏡
3D printer | 3Dプリンター
Laboratory | 実験室
Laboratory | 実験室

Awards

April,2021

HFSP Awards 2021

Research Grants-Program, Structural damage to axons resulting from repetitive mechanical motion, International Human Frontier Science Program Organization

September,2019

The 6th Tech Planter

Ebara Corporation Award, Technology to convert and amplify bioenergy into electrical energy, TECH PLANTER

September,2016

SPSJ Science Award

Study on Dynamic Self-organization Using Bio-molecular Motors, The Society of Polymer science, Japan

April,2011

Japan prize for young scientists 2011

Study on ATP fueled Soft-actuator constructed from Bio-molecular Motors, The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science & Technology (MEXT)

Selected articles

The selected articles highlighting the current research in our group are listed in chronological order of their publication.

Autonomous assembly and disassembly of gliding molecular robots regulated by a DNA-based molecular controller

Ibuki Kawamata†, Kohei Nishiyama†, Daiki Matsumoto, Shosei Ichiseki, Jakia J. Keya, Kohei Okuyama, Masatoshi Ichikawa, Arif Md. Rashedul Kabir, Yusuke Sato, Daisuke Inoue, Satoshi Murata, Kazuki Sada, Akira Kakugo* and Shin-ichiro M. Nomura*

Science Advance 10, eadn4490, May 2024

DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adn4490

† these authors contributed equally to this work. 

How a Soft Rod Wraps around a Rotating Cylinder

Marie Tani and Hirofumi Wada

Physical Review Letters 132, 058204, Feb 2024

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.058204

* Selected for Editor’s Suggestion 
* Featured in Physics: Focus; “Transition During Winding of a String” by Mr. Mark Buchanan. https://physics.aps.org/articles/v17/19

Long-range Chemo-mechanical Force Modulates Higher Order Mesoscale Biostructures

Deepak Karna, Eriko Mano, Jiahao Ji, Ibuki Kawamata*, Yuki Suzuki*, Hanbin Mao*

Nature Communications, Vol. 14, 2023

DOI:10.1038/s41467-023-41604-z

Motion of a swimming droplet under external perturbations: A model-based approach

Saori Suda, Tomoharu Suda, Takuya Ohmura, Masatoshi Ichikawa

Physical Review E 106, 034610 Sept 2022

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.106.034610

Cooperative cargo transportation by a swarm of molecular machines

Mousumi Akter, Jakia Jannat Keya, Kentaro Kayano, Arif Md. Rashedul Kabir, Daisuke Inoue, Henry Hess, Kazuki Sada, Akinori Kuzuya, Hiroyuki Asanuma, Akira Kakugo

Science Robotics 7(65) Apr 2022

https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.abm0677

Near-wall rheotaxis of the ciliate Tetrahymena induced by the kinesthetic sensing of cilia

Takuya Ohmura, Yukinori Nishigami, Atsushi Taniguchi, Shigenori Nonaka, Takuji Ishikawa, Masatoshi Ichikawa

Science Advances 7(43) Oct 2021

https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abi5878

Cascaded pattern formation in hydrogel medium using the polymerisation approach

Keita Abe, Satoshi Murata, Ibuki Kawamata*

Soft Matter, Vol. 17, Issue 25, pp. 6160-6167, 2021

DOI:10.1039/D1SM00296A

Deformation of microtubules regulates translocation dynamics of kinesin

Syeda Rubaiya Nasrin, Christian Ganser, Seiji Nishikawa, Arif Md. Rashedul Kabir, Kazuki Sada, Takefumi Yamashita, Mitsunori Ikeguchi, Takayuki Uchihashi, Henry Hess, Akira Kakugo

Science Advances 7(42) Oct 2021

https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abf2211

Straight-to-curvilinear motion transition of a swimming droplet caused by the susceptibility to fluctuations

Saori Suda, Tomoharu Suda, Takuya Ohmura, Masatoshi Ichikawa

Physical Review Letters 127, 088005 Aug 2021

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.088005

Simple mechanosense and response of cilia motion reveal the intrinsic habits of ciliates

Takuya Ohmura, Yukinori Nishigami, Atsushi Taniguchi, Shigenori Nonaka, Junichi Manabe, Takuji Ishikawa, Masatoshi Ichikawa

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 115 (13) 3231-3236 Mar 2018

https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1718294115

DNA-assisted swarm control in a biomolecular motor system

Jakia Jannat Keya, Ryuhei Suzuki, Arif Md. Rashedul Kabir, Daisuke Inoue, Hiroyuki Asanuma, Kazuki Sada, Henry Hess, Akinori Kuzuya, Akira Kakugo

Nature Communications 9(1) 453 Jan 2018

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02778-5

Self-propelled motion switching in nematic liquid crystal droplets in aqueous surfactant solutions

Mariko Suga, Saori Suda, Masatoshi Ichikawa, Yasuyuki Kimura

Physical Review E 97, 062703 Jun 2018

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.97.062703

Sensing surface mechanical deformation using active probes driven by motor proteins

Daisuke Inoue, Takahiro Nitta, Arif Md. Rashedul Kabir, Kazuki Sada, Jian Ping Gong, Akihiko Konagaya, Akira Kakugo

Nature Communications 7(12557) Oct 2016

https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms12557