Visualizing Senolytic Drug-Regulated Metabolic Changes in Aging Drosophila using Multimodal Microscopy
- Hussain, Sahran
- Advisor(s): Shi, Lingyan
Abstract
Aging is a natural process involving a gradual decline in physiological condition of most living organisms. This decline in physiological condition can lead to many age-related illnesses like Alzheimer’s disease, immunosenescence, and cancer. Metabolic processes play a crucial role in aging due to energy production, nutrition sensing, and signaling pathways being tightly regulated by cellular metabolism. Macromolecules such as lipids and proteins are key players in metabolic pathways for age-related decline and illnesses. High resolution and non-destructive optical techniques can be used to track metabolic and structural changes of these macromolecules. The objectives of this thesis are to provide insights into the effects of aging, genetic manipulation, and drug treatment on cellular metabolism in Drosophila Melanogaster using Raman scattering microscopy for in situ tissue imaging. The first chapter of this thesis presents a study on the influence of aging and amyloid precursor protein (APP) overexpression on protein metabolism in Drosophila antennal lobe by using spontaneous Raman spectroscopy. The second chapter presents the work investigating effects of the senolytic drug on lipid and protein metabolism and lifespan in Drosophila fat body tissue using spontaneous Raman spectroscopy, stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) and two-photon fluorescence microscopy. The data and results presented in these studies provides insights on the implications of aging, genetic manipulation, and senolytic drug administration on metabolism in Drosophila. These studies also demonstrate the broad applications of Raman imaging techniques in detection and diagnosis of aging and age-related illnesses.