I am a skilled microscopist with a background in Neuroscience, Developmental Biology, and Genetics. My research is focused on two areas.
First, I am interested in understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms governing neuronal plasticity through applying genetics and optical methods, particularly the fluorescence microscopy techniques. Particularly, I am interested in hormonal regulation of neuronal remodeling of neuroendocrine cells. Neuroendocrine cells are nerve cells that can produce and release neuropeptide or peptide hormones to control many body functions. Proper regulation of plasticity of neuroendocrine cells is important for their functions and is affected by many hormones and signaling pathways, such as growth hormone, metabolic signals, and stress response signals, etc.
Second, I am interested in applying advanced light microscopy techniques in 3-dimensional and 4-dimensional whole system imaging and understanding cell-cell, cell-tissue, and tissue-system interactions.
Specifically, I am developing new protocols for whole animal/tissue clearing and light sheet imaging. This includes whole mouse brain, spinal cord, pig heart valves, whole fishes clearing and imaging.
Schmied, C., Tischer C., …, Gu, T., …, Jambor H., (2023) Community-developed checklists for publishing images and image analyses. Nature Methods. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-023-01987-9
Pineda-Castillo, S., Aparicio-Ruiz, S., Burns, M., Laurence, D., Bradshaw, E., Gu, T., Holzapfel., G., Lee, C. (2022) Linking region-specific tissue microstructure to the biaxial mechanical properties of porcine left anterior descending artery. Acta Biomaterialia 150: 295 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actbio.2022.07.036
Saenz, D. , Gu, T. , Ban, Y. , Winemiller, K. , Markham, M. (2021) Derived loss of signal complexity and plasticity in a genus of weakly electric fish. Journal of Experimental Biology 224 (12):jeb242400. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.242400
Gu, T.*, Tao, T.*, and Hewes, RS. (2017) The large and small SPEN family proteins stimulate axon outgrowth during neurosecretory cell remodeling in Drosophila. Dev Biol. 431 (2):226 - 238 (*co-first author). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ydbio.2017.09.013
Gu, T., Zhao, T., and Hewes, RS. (2014) Insulin signaling regulates neurite growth during ecdysone-dependent neuronal remodeling. Biology Open 3(1):81-93 https://doi.org/10.1242/bio.20136437
