The centrosome is the cellular microtubule organizing center (MTOC) and plays a critical role in cell cycle progression, polarity, and migration. When cells exit the cell cycle, the centrosome docks at the cell membrane and extends the hair-like organelles, cilia, which is essential in sensing, signaling, and cell motility.
Centrosome structure/number changes can lead to cancer, microcephaly, or dwarfism. Cilia defects exert a broad impact, affecting nearly all human organs, and these rare genetic diseases are collectively called ciliopathies.
Studying the function of the disease genes linked to centrosome and ciliary disorders could aid disease diagnosis and the development of new therapies. However, these subcellular structures have long been understudied, partly because their sizes are below the resolution of traditional light microscopy. The emergence of super-resolution microscopy pushes the optical resolution to nanometers, making the visualization of subcellular protein assemblies a viable possibility.
Here, at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the Liu lab leverages quantitative super-resolution imaging, single molecule/particle live cell tracking, machine learning, and other state-of-art techniques to diagnose and study diseases caused by centrosome and cilia defects.
Specifically, Liu lab will address important biological questions related to the following topics:
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Centrosome and cilia dysfunctions in the development of human diseases
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Centrosome and cilia in airway host defense
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Development of imaging-based techniques to improve disease diagnosis
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200 nm
STORM imaging
Conventional imaging