Regulation of ligand-independent notch signal through intracellular trafficking

Notch signaling is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism that defines a key cell fate control mechanism in metazoans. Notch signaling relies on the surface interaction between the Notch receptor and membrane bound ligands in an apposing cell. In our recent study, we uncover a non-canonical receptor activation path that relies on a ligand-independent, intracellular activation of the receptor as it travels through the endosomal compartments. We found that Notch receptor, targeted for degradation lysosomal degradation through multivesicular bodies (MVBs) is “diverted” toward activation upon mono-ubiquitination through a synergy between the ubiquitin ligase Deltex, the non-visual β-arrestin Kurtz and the ESCRT-III component Shrub. This activation path is not universal but appears to depend on the cellular context

Chemical composition and their characteristics of shallow ice cores drilled at Dome Fuji, East Antarctica

第3回極域科学シンポジウム　横断セッション「海・陸・氷床から探る後期新生代の南極寒冷圏環境変動」11月27日（火） 国立国語研究所 ２階講

Densification of layered firn of the ice sheet at Dome Fuji, Antarctica

第6回極域科学シンポジウム[OM] 極域気水圏11月16日（月）　国立極地研究所１階交流アトリウ

Entangled-photon decision maker

The competitive multi-armed bandit (CMAB) problem is related to social issues such as maximizing total social benefits while preserving equality among individuals by overcoming conflicts between individual decisions, which could seriously decrease social benefits. The study described herein provides experimental evidence that entangled photons physically resolve the CMAB in the 2-arms 2-players case, maximizing the social rewards while ensuring equality. Moreover, we demonstrated that deception, or outperforming the other player by receiving a greater reward, cannot be accomplished in a polarization-entangled-photon-based system, while deception is achievable in systems based on classical polarization-correlated photons with fixed polarizations. Besides, random polarization-correlated photons have been studied numerically and shown to ensure equality between players and deception prevention as well, although the CMAB maximum performance is reduced as compared with entangled photon experiments. Autonomous alignment schemes for polarization bases were also experimentally demonstrated based only on decision conflict information observed by an individual without communications between players. This study paves a way for collective decision making in uncertain dynamically changing environments based on entangled quantum states, a crucial step toward utilizing quantum systems for intelligent functionalities

SCOTfluors: Small, Conjugatable, Orthogonal and Tunable Fluorophores for in vivo Imaging of Cell Metabolism

The transport and trafficking of metabolites are critical for the correct functioning of live cells. However, in situ metabolic imaging studies are hampered by the lack of fluorescent chemical structures that allow direct monitoring of small metabolites under physiological conditions with high spatial and temporal resolution. Herein, we describe SCOTfluors as novel small-sized multi-colored fluorophores for real-time tracking of essential metabolites in live cells and in vivo and for the acquisition of metabolic profiles from human cancer cells of variable origin. © 2019 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.The authors acknowledge funding from Medical Research Scotland (S.B.: 879-2015), MSCA Individual Fellowship (A.F.: 704912), OPTIMA (N.D.B.: EP/L016559/1), Wellcome Trust Sir Henry Dale Fellowship (Y.F.: 100104/Z/12/Z) and the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (J.L.A, A.D.: CTQ2017-85378-R). M.V. acknowledges funds from ERC Consolidator Grant (771443), Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/M025160/1) and the Royal Society (IEC\R3\170132). The authors thank the technical support from the Flow Cytometry and the Confocal Advanced Light Microscopy units at the University of Edinburgh.Peer reviewe