University of Tokyo

About: University of Tokyo is a education organization based out in Tokyo, Japan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Gene. The organization has 134564 authors who have published 337567 publications receiving 10178620 citations. The organization is also known as: Todai & Universitas Tociensis.

Kinesin superfamily motor proteins and intracellular transport

Abstract: Intracellular transport is fundamental for cellular function, survival and morphogenesis. Kinesin superfamily proteins (also known as KIFs) are important molecular motors that directionally transport various cargos, including membranous organelles, protein complexes and mRNAs. The mechanisms by which different kinesins recognize and bind to specific cargos, as well as how kinesins unload cargo and determine the direction of transport, have now been identified. Furthermore, recent molecular genetic experiments have uncovered important and unexpected roles for kinesins in the regulation of such physiological processes as higher brain function, tumour suppression and developmental patterning. These findings open exciting new areas of kinesin research.

Open Source Clustering Software

Abstract: SUMMARY We have implemented k-means clustering, hierarchical clustering and self-organizing maps in a single multipurpose open-source library of C routines, callable from other C and C++ programs. Using this library, we have created an improved version of Michael Eisen's well-known Cluster program for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux/Unix. In addition, we generated a Python and a Perl interface to the C Clustering Library, thereby combining the flexibility of a scripting language with the speed of C. AVAILABILITY The C Clustering Library and the corresponding Python C extension module Pycluster were released under the Python License, while the Perl module Algorithm::Cluster was released under the Artistic License. The GUI code Cluster 3.0 for Windows, Macintosh and Linux/Unix, as well as the corresponding command-line program, were released under the same license as the original Cluster code. The complete source code is available at http://bonsai.ims.u-tokyo.ac.jp/mdehoon/software/cluster. Alternatively, Algorithm::Cluster can be downloaded from CPAN, while Pycluster is also available as part of the Biopython distribution.

Cosmological constraints from the SDSS luminous red galaxies

Abstract: We measure the large-scale real-space power spectrum P(k) using luminous red galaxies (LRGs) in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and use this measurement to sharpen constraints on cosmological parameters from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). We employ a matrix-based power spectrum estimation method using Pseudo-Karhunen-Loeve eigenmodes, producing uncorrelated minimum-variance measurements in 20 k-bands of both the clustering power and its anisotropy due to redshift-space distortions, with narrow and well-behaved window functions in the range 0.01h/Mpc 0.1h/Mpc and associated nonlinear complications, yet agree well with more aggressive published analyses where nonlinear modeling is crucial.

Calcium release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum

Abstract: Publisher Summary Ca release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) is one of the most important steps in excitation–contraction coupling of skeletal muscle. This chapter describes the physiological release of Ca from the SR, various modes of Ca release from the SR, and the physiological significance of various Ca release mechanisms. Ca ion is the mediator of information of action potentials to the contractile machinery; however, the physiological source of the mediator Ca is not yet unequivocally established. The inhibitors of Ca-induced Ca release––procaine and adenine––were shown not to inhibit contraction of living skeletal muscle fibers induced by the depolarization of the surface membrane. Studies of the ionic composition of the lumen of the SR by electron-probe analysis show that there are no significant differences between the ionic compositions in the lumen of the SR and that in the cytoplasm except for Ca ion. The essential part of the physiological Ca release mechanism is almost entirely unknown; therefore, further studies, especially by using preparations, such as improved cut fibers, that retain the physiological tubule (T)–SR coupling mechanism, but have easy access to sarcoplasm so that its composition can be altered at will, are necessary.