Project Description

The prevalence of obesity has resulted in significant burdens on the healthcare system and livelihood of the developed counties. Understanding the underlying adipocyte physiopathology is the key to developing effective obesity control strategies. We apply digital holographic microscopy (DHM) to in vivo study of the development of Caenorhabditis elegans, an invertebrate animal model of obesity and aging research. Recent reports have shown the potential application of DHM for life science research, offering non-invasive high resolution and real-time observation capabilities without the need for fixing and fluorescence labeling of biological samples. It has been applied to topography measurement of live cells and embryo development. In this project, (1) a DHM system is combined with a newly designed high-throughput digital recording system for imaging the C. elegans morphology feature, kinematics, and mobility (e.g., body size and length, locomotion, eating behavior, lifespan and energy metabolism) in whole body as well as intestine (the fat storage organ in C. elegans) at various developmental stages. (2) The DHM-based imaging analysis data will then be coupled with biochemical and molecular studies to elucidate the molecular mechanistic insights into development stage-dependent changes in the physiology of C. elegans. (3) Ultimately, the established high-throughput DHM will be employed to screen and identify natural and synthetic small molecules that are able to modulate the phenotypes-associated with obesity and aging. Collectively, we anticipate that the successful completion of this collaborative research between Colleges of Engineering and Agriculture will lay the groundwork for establishment of a DHM-based high throughput screening platform to identify druggable molecules for the treatment of obesity- and/or aging-related diseases.

Start Date 

May 1, 2020 

Postdoc Qualifications 

PhD degree in engineering (ME or BME preferred) or physics. Strong experience on the development and application of digital holograph system including hardware design and software development. Strong written, oral communication, and critical thinking skills are required. Interested candidates should be highly motivated and willing to work with faculty and students with different background.

Co-advisors 

Jun Chen
Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
College of Engineering

Kee-Hong Kim
Associate Professor of Food Science
College of Agriculture 

References

Gao, J., Lyon, J. A., Szeto, D. P., and Chen, J. (2012). In vivo imaging and quantitative analysis of zebrafish embryos by digital holographic microscopy. Biomed. Opt. Express, 3(10):2623–2635.

Gao, J., Guildenbecher, D. R., Reu, P. L., Kulkarni, V., Sojka, P. E., and Chen, J. (2013). Quantitative, three-dimensional diagnostics of multiphase drop fragmentation via digital in-line holography. Opt. Lett., 38(11):1893–1895.

Zhu, Y., Chen, C.-Y., Li, J., Cheng, J.-X., Jang, M., Kim, K.-H. (2018) "In vitro exploration of ACAT contributions to lipid droplet formation during adipogenesis" Journal of Lipid Research 59:820-829

Shen, P., Yue, Y., Sun, Q., Kasireddy, N., Kim, K.-H., Park, Y. (2017) Piceatannol extends the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans via DAF-16. Biofactors 43:379-387

Shen, P., Kershaw, J.C., Yue, Y., Wang, O., Kim, K.-H., McClements, D.J., Park, Y. (2018) Effect of conjugated linoleic acid on fat accumulation, activity, and proteomics analysis in Caenorhabditis elegans Food Chemistry 249:193-201