This work will advance the discovery and understanding of the brain, improve healthcare, and enhance infrastructure for research and education. The project will lay the foundation for a better understanding of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's in both biological and clinical investigations. The super-resolution spectroscopy advances will provide fast, molecular level, non-invasive, high specificity imaging tools for translational medical applications.
This project will develop a new volumetric, ultrafast super-resolution microscopy to overcome technical barriers for in vivo investigations of tissue and organ functions. Switching methods, such as stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM) rely on imaging of single molecules to reconstruct fluorescence images with sub-diffraction-limited resolution. The roles of microglia in response to Ab (Amyloid beta) are crucially involved in the diseased (AD) brain; and ultimately provide tools and solutions for clinical investigations. The proposed super-resolution investigation will provide new insights into the role of microglia to the maintenance of brain function and in response to pathological insults. The proposed work will pave the technological and intellectual foundation for deeper understanding of the microglial response and influence to neurodegenerative disorders.
