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No.1 : A cardiac pacemaker cell

Click the movie No.1 to see a cardiac pacemaker cell. This type of cell is located in the pace-making region of the heart and shows autonomous rhythmic activity even after isolation procedures.
No.2 : An isolated ventricular cell

The cell in the movie No.2 is an isolated ventricular cell, which generates power to pump blood from the heart in response to stimulation transmitted from the pace-making region of the heart. In this movie, the ventricular cell is electrically stimulated for contraction.

These physiological functions of the cells are reproduced in virtual time-space using cell models. Indeed, novel projects are conducted worldwide to reveal the causations of diseases and the mechanisms of therapeutic agents by computer simulation using those cell models. Development of virtual cell models is comparable to compilations of knowledge acquired from longstanding scientific research with the aid of computer technology. In our project, we develop user-friendly software to display the function of the cells clearly on the computer screen, and make it easily-accessible to everyone from all over the world.

Observe the function of the cells by running the programs attached. First of all, perform the prepared experiments on the virtual cell to see the response of the cell, and feel the wonder of “the functions of the body”. From now on, we will develop tools useful for solving problems and comprehension.

NEWS

2019/6/20: S. Umehara, X. Tan, Y. Okamoto, K. Ono, A. Noma, A. Amano and Y. Himeno published a paper titled ‘Mechanisms Underlying Spontaneous Action Potential Generation Induced by Catecholamine in Pulmonary Vein Cardiomyocytes: A Simulation Study’ in a scientific journal, IJMS. The paper and source code of the model is available online from “Downloads” page.
2017/11/8: Uploaded some models at Downloads page, related to the presentation.
2017/8/22: Updated HuVECIII model at Downloads page.
2017/4/17: New model has arrived at Downloads page.
2016/8/9: We are going to have the 5th e-Heart workshop in Korea, Aug. 26, 2016. The poster is downloadable from here.
2016/5/19: We are going to have the 4th e-Heart workshop in Korea, May 26-28, 2016. Posters are downloadable from here and here.
2015/6/17: Y. Himeno, K. Asakura, C.Y. Cha, H. Memida, T. Powell, A. Amano, and A. Noma in our lab published a paper titled ‘A human ventricular myocyte model with refined representation of excitation-contraction coupling’ in a scientific journal, Biophysical Journal. The source code of the human ventricular cell model (HuVEC2) is available online from “Downloads” page.
2014/9/9: K. Asakura, C. Cha, H. Yamaoka, Y. Horikawa, H. Memida, T. Powell, A. Amano and A. Noma in our lab published a paper titled ‘EAD and DAD mechanisms analyzed by developing a new human ventricular cell model’ in a scientific journal, Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology　(PBMB). The source code of the human ventricular cell model (HuVEC1) is available online from “Downloads” page.