RIKEN Center for Advanced Photonics Nano-Photochemistry Research Unit

Unit Leader: Tomoko Inose (Ph.D.)

Japanese Page

Research Summary

Our unit aims to develop novel nano-optical technologies for molecular-level manipulation of functions in a single live cell using a nanowire-based single live-cell endoscopy technique. In particular, we focus on integrating light-responsive nanomaterials including plasmonic nanowires with various photoresponsive organic/ inorganic molecules to achieve precise control of localized photochemical reactions at the nanometer scale. By applying these technologies to a single live cell, we aim to induce diverse photochemical reactions at specific intracellular locations, ultimately leading to a deeper understanding of previously inaccessible biological phenomena.

Main Research Fields

Interdisciplinary Science & Engineering

Related Research Fields

Chemistry
Complex Systems
Nanomaterials
Nanobioscience
Biophysics-related

Keywords

Plasmonics
Photochemistry
Nanophotonics
Nanoprobe
Single live-cell manipulation

Selected Publications

Papers with an asterisk(*) are based on research conducted outside of RIKEN.

1. *Yoshimura, M., Inose, T.:
"Photocleavable Systems for Cell Biology: Conceptual Design across Molecular Modalities"
ChemBioChem, e202500564 (2025).
2. *Yoshimura, M., Sasayama, R., Kajiwara, T., Mori, C., Nakasone, Y., Inose, T.:
"Remote Silyl Groups Enhance Hydrolytic Stability and Photocleavage Efficiency in Carbamates for Protein Release"
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., e202502376 (2025).
3. *Skorjanc, T., Burke, D., Inose, T., Furukawa, S.:
"Multistimuli-Responsive Porous Organic Polymers for Drug-Gas Anticancer Combination Therapy"
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 17, 65485–65494 (2025).
4. *Toyouchi, S., Wolf, M., Hirai, K., Fujita, Y., Inose, T., Fortuni, B., Fron, E., Hofkens, J., De Feyter, S., Hutchison, J., Fukaminato, T., Uji-I, H.:
"A Sub-diffraction Limit Dimension All-plasmonic Optical Memory using Non-linear Photochromism"
Adv. Sci., 2502890 (2025).
5. *Inose, T., Toyouchi, S., Hara, S., Sugioka, S., Walke, P., Oyabu, R., Fortuni, B., Peeters, W., Usami, Y., Hirai, K., De Feyter, S., Uji-i, H., Fujita, Y., Tanaka, H.:
"Visualizing Ribbon-to-Ribbon Heterogeneity of Chemically Unzipped Wide Graphene Nanoribbons by Silver Nanowire-Based Tip-Enhanced Raman Scattering Microscopy"
Small, 2301841 (2023).
6. *Zhang, Q., Murasugi, T., Watanabe, K., Wen, H., Tian, Y., Ricci, M., Rocha, S., Inose, T., Kasai, H., Taemaitree, F., Uji-i, H., Hirai, K., Fortuni, B.:
"Selective Detection of Intracellular Drug Metabolism by Metal-Organic Framework-Coated Plasmonic Nanowire"
Adv. Opt. Mater., 2300856 (2023).
7. *Zhang, Q., Inose, T., Ricci, M., Li, J., Tian, Y., Wen, H., Toyouchi, S., Fron, E., Thi Ngoc Dao, A., Kasai, H., Rocha, S., Hirai, K., Fortuni, B., Uji-I, H.:
"Gold-Photodeposited Silver Nanowire Endoscopy for Cytosolic and Nuclear pH Sensing"
ACS Appl. Nano Mater., 4, 9886–9894 (2021).
8. *Ricci, M., Fortuni, B., Vitale, R., Zhang, Q., Fujita, Y., Toyouchi, S., Lu, G., Rocha, S., Inose, T., Uji-i, H.:
"Gold-etched Silver Nanowire Endoscopy: Towards a Widely Accessible Platform for SERS-based Analysis in Living Cells"
Anal. Chem., 93, 5037-5045 (2021).
9. *Zhang, Q., Wen, H., Watanabe, K., Kotani, I., Ricci, M., Fortuni, B., Thi Ngoc Dao, A., Masuhara, A., Hirai, K., Kasai, H., Inose, T., Uji-i, H.:
"Low-Cytotoxic Gold-Coated Silver Nanoflowers for Intracellular pH Sensing"
ACS Appl. Nano Mater., 3, 7643-7650 (2020).
10. *Inose, T., Toyouchi, S., Lu, G., Umemoto, K., Tezuka, Y., Lyu, B., Masuhara, A., Fron, E., Fujita, Y., Hirai, K., Uji-I, H.:
"Water-Mediated Polyol Synthesis of Pencil-like Sharp Silver Nanowires Suitable for Nonlinear Plasmonics"
Chem. Commun., 55, 11630-11633 (2019).

Lab Members

Principal investigator

Tomoko Inose: Unit Leader

Contact Information

2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
Email: tomoko.inose@riken.jp