Colloquium
Department of Physics, NCU
Watching Neural Stem Cells in Action: An Optical Approach to Understand the Roles of Molecular Motors in Neuronal Migration and Brain Development
Speaker
蔡金吾教授
Prof. Jin-Wu Tsai
Institute of Brain Science (IBS), Biophotonics and Molecular Imaging Research Center (BMIRC), Brain Research Center (BRC), NYMU
Date 2013.10.8(Tue)
Time 14:00
Place S4-625
「歡迎大學部同學參加，可獲得中大護照認證2小時」
With the development of stem cell technologies, stem cells, which can regenerate and differentiate into many different cell types, have great potential for treating diseases by repairing and/or affecting homeostasis of the damaged tissue. In order to understand the mysterious properties of neural stem cells during brain development, we utilized interdisciplinary approaches, including time-lapse fluorescent microscopy in combination with novel cell culture systems and molecular biology to monitor the behaviors of these cells in live brain tissue. We showed that molecular motors (dynein, kinesin, and myosin) play very important roles on the morphogenesis, migration, cell renewal, and differentiation of neural stem cells. Defects in these processes cause brain severe developmental disorders, such as lissencephaly (smooth brain). We further used advanced in vivo two-photon microscopy to image the dynamics of dendritc spines, a hallmark of synaptic plasticity, in live animals during development. These approaches can be expanded to elucidate the mechanism of normal brain development and shed light on how various genes cause many other neural developmental disorders.