Low-Power Stimulated Raman Time-Lapse Microscope for Tracking Dynamics and Fate of Lipid Droplets in Glioma Cells

项目总结/摘要 脂滴是一种高度动态的细胞器，在细胞脂质代谢中起着多种作用。 脂质代谢的重新编程现在被认为是癌症的标志。LD在癌细胞内积聚 由于多种原因，但其机制尚未完全了解。在这个项目中，我们将开发 新技术来成像癌细胞中LD的动态。受激拉曼散射显微术 是对活细胞和组织中的无标记LD进行成像的有力工具。然而，SRS成像中使用的激光功率 对于进行活细胞的长期延时成像来说太高了。该项目的目标是建立 低激光功率时移受激拉曼显微镜，并使用成像平台来描绘动力学 和命运的无标记LD了解他们的功能在胶质瘤的进展和他们的作用作为一个潜在的 治疗靶点具体目标包括跟踪脂滴形成的动力学和生命周期， 胶质瘤细胞的降解和胶质瘤细胞在培养的器官型小鼠中的迁移和侵袭的跟踪 脑组织该项目的结果将促进我们对LD在特定条件下的作用的理解， 癌症存活率和侵袭性，并将为潜在的治疗干预提供靶向LD的新线索。 这个区域项目将使一名博士生和九名本科生在 PI的监督。通过实施这个项目，宾厄姆顿大学的研究环境 将在健康科学和生物光子学领域得到有益的增强。

Project Summary/Abstract Lipid droplets (LDs) is highly dynamic cellular organelles that play multiple functions in cell lipid metabolism. Reprogramming of lipid metabolism is now considered a hallmark of cancer. LDs accumulate within the cancer cells due to multiple reasons, but the mechanism has not been fully understood. In this project, we will develop new technologies to image the dynamics of LDs in cancer cells. Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy is a powerful tool to image label-free LDs in live cells and tissue. However, the laser power used in SRS imaging is too high to conduct long-term time-lapse imaging of live cells. The objective of this AREA project is to establish a low-laser-power time-lapse stimulated Raman microscope and use the imaging platform to depict the dynamics and fate of label-free LDs for understanding their function in glioma progression and their role as a potential therapeutic target. Specific aims include tracking the dynamics and life cycle of lipid droplets formation and degradation in glioma cells and tracking migration and invasion of glioma cells in cultured organotypic mouse brain tissue. The results of this project will advance our understanding on the condition-specific roles of LDs in cancer survival and aggressiveness and will provide new clues to target LDs for potential therapeutic intervention. This AREA project would expose one PhD student and nine undergraduate students to hands on research under the PI’s supervision. Through conducting this project, the research environment at the Binghamton University will be beneficially enhanced in the field of health science and biophotonics.