Department of Physiology and Biophysics

We have been studying physiology of the heart by conducting experiments on cardiac myocytes. We have employed the patch clamp technique to single myocytes dissociated from various part of heart, and also to cultured cells which express a variety of ion channels and ion exchangers. We also study the cell contraction by recording the sarcomere length, the intracellular Ca transients using fluorescent dyes, and autonomic regulation of heart rate.

We aim to understand the mechanisms underlying the physiological function of the heart and its regulation. Our goal is to construct a "virtual living heart" in a computer, which is based on accurate experimental results, and put it in a final "whole body blood circulation model". Our "Kyoto model" is available from Simulation category.

Ayako Takeuchi, Shuji Tatsumi, Nobuaki Sarai, Keisuke Terashima, Satoshi Matsuoka, and Akinori Noma,
Ionic Mechanisms of Cardiac Cell Swelling Induced by Blocking Na⁺/K⁺ Pump As Revealed by Experiments and Simulation.
The Journal of General Physiology, 128(5): 495-507, 2006. doi:10.1085/jgp.200609646

Commentary was also published as;
Clive M. Baumgarten,
Cell Volume Regulation in Cardiac Myocytes: A Leaky Boat Gets a New Bilge Pump.
The Journal of General Physiology, 128(5): 495-507, 2006. doi:10.1085/jgp.200609679

We are working hard to publish the source code to reproduce the figures in Takeuchi et al. (2006), which will be available at sim-bio.org in a few weeks.

An invited seminar was given at Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Korea.

N. Sarai
How can we utilize a mathematical model of guinea-pig heart?

Prof. Noma gave a special lecture at FAOPS2006.org

A. Noma, S. Matsuoka and N. Sarai.
Computer Modelling on Cardiac Function.
The 6th Congress of the Federation of Asian And Oceanian Physiological Societies, p. 70, 2006

A. Noma, A. Takeuchi, S. Matsuoka and N. Sarai.
Simulation of Pathophysiological Mechanisms of Cardiac Myocytes.
The 6th Congress of the Federation of Asian And Oceanian Physiological Societies, p. 80, 2006

H. Matsuda, S. Matsuoka, N. Sarai, and A. Noma.
Mechanisms Underlying Spontaneous Action Potentials in Cardiac Ventricular Myocytes: A Simulation Study.
The 6th Congress of the Federation of Asian And Oceanian Physiological Societies, p. 161, 2006

K. Asakura, N. Sarai, S. Matsuoka, and A. Noma.
In Silico Assessment of Drug Mechanisms from Experimental Action Potential Recordings Using Mathematical Models.
The 6th Congress of the Federation of Asian And Oceanian Physiological Societies, p. 162, 2006

Nobuaki Sarai, Tsutomu Kobayashi, Satoshi Matsuoka and Akinori Noma,
A Simulation Study to Rescue the Na+/Ca2+ Exchanger Knockout Mice.
The Journal of Physiological Sciences, 56(3): 211-217, 2006. doi:10.2170/physiolsci.RP005006

The source code of the model is available via cvs at http://www.sim-bio.org/

A new release of simBio is now available at http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=146713

For more information, see http://sourceforge.net/projects/simbio/

Dr. Hikari Jo graduated and moved to Department of Cardiovascular and Respiratory Medicine, Shiga University of Medical Science.