The School of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The functions of signaling molecules are largely dependent on their dynamics and subcellular localization. With the recent development of functional mutants of green fluorescent protein (GFP) and advancement of fluorescence microscope, it has become possible to monitor and manipulate target proteins in live cells. Interdisciplinary approaches involving live cell imaging, bio-nanotechnology, and laser-tweezers will be integrated to elucidate the molecular mechanisms in mechano-biology and cell motility, and to develop accurate imaging assays for early cancer detection. The specific research interests in my laboratory include:

• To develop genetically-encoded reporters based on fluorescent resonance energy transfer (FRET) to visualize and quantify signaling transduction in live cells with high tempo-spatial resolution;
• To visualize multiple signaling events simultaneously in live cells with different fluorescence probes and elucidate the molecular hierarchy involved in cellular signaling transduction;
• To integrating bio-nanotechnology, laser-tweezers, and live-cell imaging technologies to manipulate the micro-environment and visualize the regulatory signaling cascades in live cell motility and migration;
• To detect early cancer development in biopsy samples with FRET-based reporters.