Abstract
Using single molecule techniques we have been developing, we have recently succeeded in imaging the signal transfer process for the first time in two signalling pathways: (1) the process from Ras to Raf, and (2) various steps from CD59, a GPI-anchored protein, to intracellular calcium responses. The single molecule methods developed here allow for the detection of activation of single Ras molecules in living cells, in addition to the observation of their locations and movement. Such single molecule methods would play key roles in the studies of many other signalling molecules to understand how the cellular signalling network functions as a system. [Jpn J Physiol 54 Suppl:S4 (2004)]
