Metabolic regulation of cellular fate in oligodendrocyte precursor cells

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Project Description

In my project I am studying the role of mitochondria function regulating cell fate decisions in oligodendrocyte lineage cells. We know from previous work that mitochondria increase in number and activity in these cells during differentiation, but it is not known whether this is a cause or consequence of the differentiation process. Using drugs that target mitochondria function, we want to assess their effect (when administered at different stages of differentiation) on cell branching, myelin protein production and mitochondria number and morphology. The goal is to identify if there are particular time-windows where mitochondria are critical for OPC differentiation and then elucidate the mechanism behind it. Using imaging analysis, I want to create some pipelines that can analyze 1) mitochondria morphology parameters; 2) cell branching extent; 3) myelin protein expression per cell. This approach will help me identifying the effect of the drugs used in cell differentiation and mitochondria biogenesis.