Research & Initiatives

Inter-organ communication is emerging as a fundamental mechanism regulating whole-body physiology and homeostasis. Organs communicate using secreted molecules that enter circulation, translocate to target tissues, and then direct a variety of processes including immunity, behavior, neurogenesis, cardiovascular function, and cellular aging. Our lab has special interests in the “Muscle-Brain” axis, and promote translational applications to treated neurodegenerative diseases.

 

Over the past several years, the genetic tools in Drosophila have been used to develop powerful experimental systems that can assess integrative physiology at high molecular resolution. The foundation for these studies is that the major mammalian organ systems, including the brain, muscle, and gut, have functional analogs in the fly.  Publicly available reagents, precise transgene expression tools, a short life cycle, and high fecundity have made Drosophila an invaluable system to study a wide array of physiological mechanisms that regulate metabolism, obesity, and diabetes, to name a few.

 

There are three main advantages for studying ICNs in flies. First, multiple binary transgenic expression systems allow for the tissue-specific expression of existing transgenes without laborious cloning, injecting, and screening for germline transmission. The UAS/Gal4 and LexA systems provide efficient “plug-and-play” platforms to rapidly induce transgene expression in one tissue and assay the effect of interorgan communication in a second tissue. Second, Gal4-responsive UAS-RNAi lines have been developed and are publicly available for nearly every gene in the Drosophila genome. The UAS-RNAi lines allow for the tissue-specific knockdown of individual genes in a cost and labor efficient manner. Third, multiple neurodegenerative disease models, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), Huntington's disease, and aging, are available to study the impact of myokines on a variety of brain function.

 

The mission of our lab is elucidating the molecular mechanism of ICN based Muscle/Brain communication. We will investigate how myokines affect physiological and pathological conditions of the brain and provide novel therapeutic strategies to prevent onset of AD and aging.