A short summary of what I have done this summer working in Dr. Contreras' lab in MSU's BRUSH program.
The central component behind this project is the adipose tissue, also known as the fat.
The perivascular adipose tissue (fat) surrounds blood vessels and helps regulate vascular homeostasis. There are a couple different types of fat: the white adipose tissue, the brown adipose tissue, and a combination of both tissue called beige/brite. PVAT is very similar to these. These tissues are all made of mature cells called adipocytes. These mature adipocyte cells contain a protein called adiponectin, which functions to regulate blood pressure.
An essential aspect in the nature of adipocytes is peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ). Activation of PPARγ allows adipose tissue to secrete its byproducts with more ease, such as adiponectin. Piezo 1 is an ion channel that sense mechanical stimulation such as, surface touch, where an entity is in space, and vascular blood flow.
The working hypothesis is that if Piezo 1 is activated, then it will inhibit adipogenesis. If this inhibition occurs the perivascular fat has less mature adipocytes, meaning there is less adiponectin. With less adiponectin there are good proteins that regulate blood pressure are absent.
My role in this project is image analysis. The Incucyte takes the images in the lab, they are uploaded into the shared folder, where I am able to access them. Using the ImageJ software, I am able to count and measure the lipid droplets in the fat. The data I collect is organized on an Excel spreadsheet for analysis. This data will either prove or disprove our hypothesis.
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