Animal physiology is the fundamental study that helps us better understand human health and disease.
This course facilitates students’ understanding of the history of development of life science and the significance of life science in modern science. The aim of this course is for students to understand the basic concepts and mechanisms of how multicellular animals maintain homeostasis. This course also aims for students to understand molecular mechanisms of 1) the endocrine system that detects and responses to changes in internal environment of the body and 2) the immune system that recognizes and eliminates foreign substances and organisms, such as pathogens.
At the end of this course, students will be able to:
1) Understand the history, the significance of modern life science, and the key concepts underlying life science.
2) Understand the mechanism and principle of tissue homeostasis and organ regeneration in multicellular organisms.
3) Explain the basic concepts of the immunological defense system.
4) Explain endocrine regulation of homeostasis and its signaling mechanisms.
Tissue homeostasis, Regeneration, Development, Immunology, Endocrine, Metabolism
✔ Specialist skills | Intercultural skills | Communication skills | Critical thinking skills | Practical and/or problem-solving skills |
Students may be given a small test or report at the end of class. The score of small test will be used for academic assessment together with the score of term-end examination.
Course schedule | Required learning | |
---|---|---|
Class 1 | What is the endocrine system? Endocrine system vs. nervous system (Shiraki) | Understand basic issues of endocrine system. Preparation and review of the textbook is strongly recommended. |
Class 2 | Hormons, receptors, and signal transduction (Shiraki) | Understand the relationship between hormone and hormone receptor, and hormone- mediated signal transduction. Preparation and review of the textbook is strongly recommended. |
Class 3 | Physiological roles of hormones (1): Stress response (Shiraki) | Understand the stress-induced hormone secretion. Preparation and review of the textbook is strongly recommended. |
Class 4 | Physiological roles of hormones (2): Control of blood glucose levels (Shiraki) | Understand insulin, anti-insulin hormones and incretin-mediated glucose metabolism. Preparation and review of the textbook is strongly recommended. |
Class 5 | Physiological roles of hormones (3): Body fluid regulation (Shiraki) | Understand the regulatory mechanisms of the body fluid through the renin - angiotensin - aldosterone system. Preparation and review of the textbook is strongly recommended. |
Class 6 | Innate immunity and adaptive immunity, Structures and genomic organization of immunoglobulins (Nakamura) | Understand the concepts of innate immunity and acquired immunity, and of the structure and genomic organization of antibodies (immunoglobulins). Preparation and review of the textbook (chapters 24 and 25) is recommended. |
Class 7 | B-cell differentiation and repertoire diversity (Nakamura) | Understand the mechanism of generating antibody diversity. Preparation and review of the textbook (chapter 25) is recommended. |
Class 8 | T-cell functions and antigen presentation (Nakamura) | Understand the roles of T cells and the mechanisms of antigen presentation and recognition. Preparation and review of the textbook (chapter 25) is recommended. |
Class 9 | T-cell differentiation and activation (Nakamura) | Understand the mechanism and physiological significance of T-cell differentiation and activation. Preparation and review of the textbook (chapter 25) is recommended. |
Class 10 | Basics of the regenerative biology (Kawakami) | Learn the basics of regenerative biology. Preparation and review of the lecture are strongly recommended. |
Class 11 | Signals for tissue regeneration (Kawakami) | Learn the molecular signals and their actions during regeneration.Preparation and review of the lecture are strongly recommended. |
Class 12 | Mechanism of bone regeneration (Kawakami) | Learn the process of bone regeneration. Preparation and review of the lecture are strongly recommended. |
Class 13 | Mechanism of skin regeneration (Kawakami) | Learn the process of skin regeneration. Preparation and review of the lecture are strongly recommended. |
Class 14 | Positional information during regeneration (Kawakami) | Understand the concept of positional information and its involvement in tissue regeneration. Preparation and review of the lecture are strongly recommended. |
(Class 10-14) Lewis Wolpert, Cheryll Tickle, Developmental Biology (Medical Science International), ISBN978-4895927161
(Class 6-9) Bruce Albert et al., Molecular Biology of the Cell, 5th Edition (Newton Press) Chapter 24-25, ISBN978-4-315-51867-2
(Class 1-5)Donald Voet, Judith G.Voet, BIOCHEMISTRY (Tokyo Kagaku Dozin) Part 16-19, ISBN978-4-8079-0807-3
Course materials will be provided during class or through OCW-I as the need arises.
Kazuwa Nakano 『SAISHIN NAIBUNPITSUTAISHYAGAKU』 (SHINDAN TO CHIRYO SHA) (in Japanease), ISBN978-4-7878-1937-6
Academic assessment will be done by the scores of small test and the term-end examination.
Student are recommended to complete classes of 6Q and 7Q, Molecular biology 1 and 2, and 9Q Genetics.