时间：4月7日上午 10：00-11：10
地点：玉泉校区教4-306
演讲人： 美国NIH Wu Yicong 博士
Title: An imaging and analysis toolset toward the construction of a 4D dynamic brain atlas in the C.elegans embryo
Abstract: The Caenorhabditis elegansembryo with only 302 neurons and ~7000 synapses provides an excellent model to understand how neural circuit assembly occurs in vivo. Direct observation of neurodevelopment during 14 hours of embryogenesis is challenging because conventional 4D microscopy induces too much phototoxicity and late stage embryos move too quickly to be captured with conventional microscopy. We have developed a novel imaging and data processing pipeline that addresses these problems, allows visualization of neurodevelopmental decisions in live embryos, and paves the way to establish a 4D dynamic neurodevelopmental atlas for all the nematode neurons. First, we invented a diSPIM system (dual-view, inverted, selective plane illumination microscope) with an isotropic resolution of 330 nm. This technical advance allowed us to image the nematode embryo in totowith high resolution and speed for the entirety of embryogenesis without detectable phototoxicity. Second, we merged two-color nuclear and neural imaging with automated lineaging techniques to identify cells of interest and visualize their neurodevelopmental dynamics. This enables us to visualize cell migration and neurite outgrowth decisions in the developing nematode brain. Finally, we propose new algorithms to straighten the worm embryos during elongation, segment the neurons/axons, and align cell positions and migration patterns among different embryos. Our final goal is to establish a four dimensional neural wiring map of all the nematode neurons throughout embryogenesis and also after hatching to a larval.
Before talking this project, I will briefly introduce some other on-going projects on PALM and SIM that the group has done in the past few years.
Biosketch: Dr. Yicong Wu is currently a staff scientist in National Institutes of Health/NIBIB's Section on High Resolution Optical Imaging. Dr. Wu received his BS and MS in Department of Biomedical Engineering from Zhejiang University, and his Ph.D. in Electronic and Computer Engineering from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2007 under the supervision of Dr. Jianan Qu. He joined Dr. Xingde Li's group as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Washington, and then moved with the Li group to Johns Hopkins in 2009, where he worked on developing endomicroscopy technologies for nonlinear optical imaging. He moved to NIH five years ago, and develops advanced optical microscopy technologies for applications in biological and clinical research.
