Optical Dissection of Brain Capillary Function

Join the UCI Beckman Laser Institute & Medical Clinic for a virtual seminar featuring Dr. Andy Shih, Assistant Professor at the Seattle Children’s Research Institute & University of Washington.

Abstract

My laboratory uses in vivo multiphoton imaging and rodent models to shed light (quite literally) on regulation of cerebral blood flow. In particular, we have focused recent attention on the vast capillary networks that distribute blood throughout the brain. We use light to both visualize capillary structure and flow, as well as noninvasively manipulate neurovascular cells that control capillary flow. We specialize in the application and development of in vivo multi-photon imaging approaches to study brain microvascular structure and function in rodents. Our recent findings include the construction of capillary networks during early postnatal development, regulation of blood flow in adulthood by capillary pericytes, and capillary changes in gray and white matter that may contribute to metabolic insufficiencies during aging and dementia. I firmly believe that our efforts will provide a unique and physiologically relevant view of microvascular function, dysfunction, and repair, and will yield strategies for protecting vascular function in diseases that degrade the brain’s microvasculature.