This department has a strong background in the fields of calcium signalling and muscle cell biology, which were established by Professor emeritus Setsuro Ebashi who demonstrated the regulatory role of calcium in muscle contraction. Calcium signal is now known to function as the molecular switch not only in muscle cell contraction but also in almost every important cell function including exocytosis, cell proliferation, immune responses and regulation of synaptic functions. This is the reason why this field is expanding rapidly and our research activity is now diversifying. We believe that the collaboration of these people will facilitate the elucidation of medical and biological significance of calcium signalling and related subjects. A couple of representative fields of our current interests are described below.
Calcium signals show very dynamic, temporal and spatial changes.
Although we place emphasis on the study of the dynamic regulation of calcium signals in smooth muscle cells at present, our final goal is to clarify the calcium signalling principle common to many types of cells. Furthermore, we are interested in the dynamics of related intracellular signals. We have now succeeded in visualizing inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate concentration dynamics within single cells. Calcium signal amplification in excitable cells. Membrane depolarization is an extremely swift way of transmitting a signal from one part of the cell to another.