The University of Tokyo Hospital 6 articles published in JoVE Biology A Pacing-Controlled Procedure for the Assessment of Heart Rate-Dependent Diastolic Functions in Murine Heart Failure Models Genri Numata1,2, Eiki Takimoto1,3 1Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, The University of Tokyo Hospital, 2Department of Therapeutic Strategy for Heart Failure, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 3Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions The present protocol describes obtaining the pressure-volume relationship through transesophageal pacing, which serves as a valuable tool in evaluating diastolic function in mouse models of heart failure. Biology Application of Passive Head Motion to Generate Defined Accelerations at the Heads of Rodents Takahiro Maekawa*1, Naoyoshi Sakitani*1, Youngjae Ryu1, Atsushi Takashima2, Shuhei Murase1, Julius Fink3, Motoshi Nagao1, Toru Ogata4, Masahiro Shinohara1, Yasuhiro Sawada5 1Department of Rehabilitation for Motor Functions, National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, 2Department of Assistive Technology, National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, 3Department of Metabolism and Endocrinology, Graduate School of Medicine, Juntendo University, 4Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 5Department of Clinical Research, National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities The present protocol describes a custom-designed ''passive head motion'' system, which reproduces mechanical accelerations at rodents' heads generated during their treadmill running at moderate velocities. It allows dissecting mechanical factors/elements from the beneficial effects of physical exercise. Immunology and Infection Application of Consistent Massage-Like Perturbations on Mouse Calves and Monitoring the Resulting Intramuscular Pressure Changes Naoyoshi Sakitani*1, Takahiro Maekawa*1, Kumiko Saitou1,2, Katsuhiko Suzuki3, Shuhei Murase1,4, Masakuni Tokunaga1, Daisuke Yoshino5, Keisuke Sawada6, Atsushi Takashima7, Motoshi Nagao1, Toru Ogata1, Yasuhiro Sawada1,8 1Department of Rehabilitation for Motor Functions, National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, 2Graduate School of Sport Sciences, Waseda University, 3Faculty of Sport Sciences, Waseda University, 4Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 5Frontier Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Tohoku University, 6University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, 7Department of Assistive Technology, National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, 8Department of Clinical Research, National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities Here we describe the protocols for applying defined mechanical loads to mouse calves and for monitoring the concomitant intramuscular pressure changes. The experimental systems that we have developed can be useful for investigating the mechanism behind the beneficial effects of physical exercise and massage. Developmental Biology Development of an In Vitro Assay to Evaluate Contractile Function of Mesenchymal Cells that Underwent Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition Yu Mikami1,2, Hirotaka Matsuzaki2, Hideyuki Takeshima2, Kosuke Makita2, Yasuhiro Yamauchi2, Takahide Nagase2 1Department of Clinical Laboratory, The University of Tokyo Hospital, 2Department of Respiratory Medicine, The University of Tokyo Hospital Here, we describe the development and application of a gel contraction assay for evaluating contractile function in mesenchymal cells that underwent epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Engineering Quantification of Hydrogen Concentrations in Surface and Interface Layers and Bulk Materials through Depth Profiling with Nuclear Reaction Analysis Markus Wilde1, Satoshi Ohno1, Shohei Ogura1, Katsuyuki Fukutani1, Hiroyuki Matsuzaki2 1Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, 2Micro Analysis Laboratory, Tandem accelerator, The University Museum, The University of Tokyo We illustrate the application of 1H(15N,αγ)12C resonant nuclear reaction analysis (NRA) to quantitatively evaluate the density of hydrogen atoms on the surface, in the volume, and at an interfacial layer of solid materials. The near-surface hydrogen depth profiling of a Pd(110) single crystal and of SiO2/Si(100) stacks is described. Biology Real-time Imaging of Plant Cell Surface Dynamics with Variable-angle Epifluorescence Microscopy Takumi Higaki1 1Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo The goal of this protocol is to demonstrate how to monitor fluorescently-tagged protein dynamics on plant cell surfaces with variable-angle epifluorescence microscopy, showing blinking dots of GFP-tagged PATROL1, a membrane trafficking protein, in the cell cortex of the stomatal complex in Arabidopsis thaliana.