Computational analysis of cell division dynamics
Kyoda, K., Okada, H., Henmi, K., Sugimoto, T., Yashiro, S. and Onami, S.
In animal development, cells are genetically controlled to generate 3D structures of bodies and organs. In this study, we created a collection of quantitative information about cell division dynamics in early C. elegans embryos when each essential embryonic gene was silenced individually by RNA interference. The collection provides novel opportunities to develop computational methods for understanding animal development.
Quantitative study on the dynamics of fertilization Ca2+ wave
Takayama J. and Onami S.
Spatio-temporal organization of the intracellular Ca2+ dynamics regulates various physiological events both in sperm and in eggs. We investigate the molecular mechanism and the physiological significance of the Ca2+ dynamics at fertilization in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans by combining live cell imaging, molecular genetics and computer simulation.
On the role of RGA-3/4 in foci formation of NMY-2
Fujita M. and Onami S.
During the polarity establishment phase of one-cell embryos, non-muscle myosin NMY-2 forms foci, resulting in a non-uniform distribution. Actomyosin network in the phase is regulated by the small GTPase RHO-1, RhoGEF ECT-2, and RhoGAP RGA-3/4. However, it is unknown how these regulatory proteins organize the spatial structure of actomyosin network.
Development and application of the algorithms for analyzing cell-cell contacts in C. elegans embryo
Azuma Y. and Onami S.
Advances in molecular biology such as GFP labeling along with those in microscopic technologies have led to various spatiotemporal imaging of intracellular molecules. Although currently the images are analyzed manually, computational analysis should be more efficient, objective and detailed. Here we computationally segmented nuclei and cell shapes during embryonic development of C. elegans and analyzed cell-cell contacts.
Integration of databases for systems science of biological dynamics
Tohsato, Y., Kyoda, K., Ho, K. and Onami, S.
As a part of the life science database integration project in Japan led by National Bioscience Database Center (NBDC), Japan Science Technology Agency (JST), we are creating a sustainable managing system and infrastructure for the integration of databases for systems science of biological dynamics in Japan. We hope to extend our activity to international collaborations for the database integration of this field.