School of Biomedical Sciences cordially invites you to join the following seminar:

Speaker: Dr. Liting Duan, Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Talk Title: Lighting the path to discovery and therapeutics: optogenetics for organelle mechanobiology and neuroprotection

Date: 17 January 2025 (Friday)
Time: 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Venue: Seminar Room 2, G/F, Laboratory Block, 21 Sassoon Road
Host: Professor Jiandong Huang

Biography

Dr. Liting Duan received her B.S. in chemistry at Renmin University of China in 2010 and her Ph.D. in chemistry at Stanford University in 2016. She undertook postdoctoral training at Stanford University from 2016 to 2018. In July 2018, she started her independent career as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Biomedical Engineering at CUHK. Her lab has been dedicated to pioneering the application of optogenetics in tackling fundamental biological questions and disease treatment, with results published in Developmental Cell, PNAS, Cell Chemical Biology, and Journal of Molecular Biology.

Abstract

Optogenetics, a powerful biotechnology that uses light to regulate biological processes with precision and high spatiotemporal resolution, has significantly advanced research across diverse fields. Our laboratory has been dedicated to expanding the frontiers of optogenetics in two primary areas: unraveling fundamental cellular mechanisms and developing new therapeutic approaches. (1) Addressing a long-standing methodological challenge in cell biology, we have engineered light-gated mechanostimulators, which, for the first time, can apply mechanical forces directly to intracellular organelles. Despite extensive research on the roles of the plasma membrane and cytoskeleton in cellular mechanosensing and mechanotransduction, we found that intracellular organelles, including the ER and mitochondria, are also capable of sensing and responding to mechanical forces, thereby presenting them as novel players in the map of mechanotransduction. (2) To explore the therapeutic possibilities of optogenetics, we have devised methods to control TrkB signaling optically — a pathway essential for cell survival, growth, and proliferation. Our research has demonstrated that activating TrkB signaling with light can protect Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) — the neurons that relay visual information from the eye to the brain — in mouse models of ocular diseases, thus opening new avenues for optogenetics-based neuroprotective treatments for RGC-related injuries and diseases.

ALL ARE WELCOME.