Cellular organelles are multifaceted, but their diverse metabolic phenotypes are not easy to identify, particularly under in vivo conditions. My research interest is to understand the connections between the physiological role of organelle metabolic heterogeneity and their association with metabolic disorders and aging. Using advanced high-information-content (HIC) chemical imaging, specifically broadband coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (BCARS) and two-photon fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (2p-FLIM), we are able to collect the metabolic features originated from the intrinsic molecules within sub-cellular compartments in intact, living specimens. We use a genetically traceable animal model, the nematode C. elegans, as the in vivo system for my research because this animal has many metabolic regulatory pathways and genes in common with mammals.

My research started with lipid droplet (LD), an organelle that was found in 1880s but virtually ignored for more than 100 years because they are “invisible” under the microscope. For a long time, scientists simply treated them as static energy reservoirs. Using HIC chemical imaging, I have recently demonstrated that not all the LDs are the same, even in a simple organism like C. elegans. While the subtle differences between LDs cannot be easily detected by existing in vivo biochemical approaches, my works reveal that LDs in live animals are highly heterogeneous, showing distinct chemical signatures, dynamic behaviors, biological functions, and inter-convertible in a temporal- and tissue-dependent manner. I have won American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) Reboot Award, Burroughs Wellcome Fund Collaborative Research Travel Award, and Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellowship Award. My future goal is to investigate the metabolic heterogeneity of other organelles including mitochondria, lysosomes, and ER as well as inter-organelle interactions under aging or altered metabolic conditions.