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Educational fields |
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| ■Higher Order Cellular Functions |
| Membrane proteins including receptors, the cytoskeleton, and intracellular vesicle transport play a pivotal role in maintaining cell morphology, polarity, adhesion, and differentiation under the control of a complex signal transduction network. In order to understand higher order cellular functions, we have to know functions of signaling proteins and how these proteins are regulated in a whole cell system. We tackle these problems using plants, model organisms, and animal models, from the viewpoint of molecular genetics, cell biology, physiology and biochemistry. |
| ■Functional Genome Science |
| Genetic information of living organisms has been accumulated in genome and chromosomes during evolution for more than 3 billion years. A major goal of life science is to understand how the genetic information is transmitted during evolution, and realized as the phenotypes of cells and individuals from the aspect of genome dynamics, and regulation system of genome function using various model organisms. The importance of this approach also increasing in the fields of clinical medicine and application biology. Students are expected to learn regulation mechanisms of genome function, and to specialize in structural dynamics of chromatin, molecular basis of transcriptional regulation, function of non-coding RNAs, molecular mechanism of meiosis and genetic disease, molecular basis of sex determination, sex chromosome evolution, function of oncogenes, and regulation mechanism of cell proliferation. |
| ■Environmental Life Science |
| All living things are exposed to environmental stresses. Understanding the physiological processes that underlie stress injury and the mechanisms by which living organisms adapt and acclimatize to environmental stress is important to achieve a good understanding of basic concepts in biology. We will study, through lectures, how living organisms sense and respond to environmental changes, which finally lead to reconstitution of the organism. Subjects covered in the course will include: 1) energy conversion systems for photosynthesis and mass production, 2) metabolic regulation controlled by functional RNA species and post-translational processes, such as ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation, and 3) cellular regulation, such as cell division, cell differentiation, and development triggered by chromatin remodeling, gene regulation, and growth regulators. |
| ■Animal Behavior and System Control |
| Functions of the nervous system, including sensory integration, motor control, learning, memory, and motivation, are closely associated with animal behavior at the level of the organism. Analyses of the neuronal and circuit operations underlying these functions are conducted at the level of integration by directly relating them to organism-level behavior. Students are expected to develop a systematic understanding of the leading-edge knowledge and concepts attained by state-of-the-art experimental techniques, including molecular biology, biophysics, neuroendocrinology, and systems physiology, as well as techniques for reconstruction of nervous functions by computer simulation together with its significance in biological research. |
| ■Reproductive and Developmental Sciences |
An important general goal of life science research is to elucidate the factors regulating the formation of germ cells and how a new individual is generated after fertilization. This knowledge can be applied directly to various reproductive manipulations with direct consequences for our life, such as in vitro fertilization, contraception, and production of useful crops. Reproductive and developmental biology have two aspects: pure science, which pursues the mechanisms guaranteeing the continuity and diversity of life; and applied science, which develops technology to artificially control reproduction and development. Social interests in this academic field, as represented by cloned animals and regenerative medicine, are now very high.
In this field, we are studying the general mechanisms of the formation and maturation of germ cells and regulation of cell division and differentiation in development. |
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