{"id":22339,"date":"2021-10-25T20:06:53","date_gmt":"2021-10-25T20:06:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/?p=22339&post_type=story"},"modified":"2022-07-29T20:10:52","modified_gmt":"2022-07-29T20:10:52","slug":"picture-perfect-proteins","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/picture-perfect-proteins\/","title":{"rendered":"Picture-perfect Proteins"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fall 2021\u00a0<\/em>|\u00a0By\u00a0Bree (Adamson) Watson\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>\u201904<\/strong><\/p>\n

To make a big impact in the world of bioimaging,\u00a0it\u2019s wise to look at some of the smallest things\u00a0in a new light. For Kyu Young Han, assistant\u00a0professor of optics and photonics<\/a>, that means developing\u00a0a new technique to view proteins in human cells. He is\u00a0creating an innovative tagging system and is building a\u00a0faster, more efficient super-resolution microscope.<\/p>\n

With three recent awards from the National Institutes\u00a0of Health totaling nearly $3.3 million, Han plans to\u00a0revolutionize molecular imaging and build an essential\u00a0microscope for the 4D Nucleome Program, one of the largest collaborative research initiatives since the\u00a0Human Genome Project was completed in 2003. By\u00a0developing new technologies to better understand cell\u00a0functions, Han\u2019s projects have the potential to accelerate\u00a0researchers\u2019 work with identifying the real-time impact\u00a0of proteins, which may lead to major advancements in\u00a0treating diseases.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to be able to contribute my imaging work to\u00a0this consortium,\u201d Han says. \u201cOur combined contributions\u00a0highlight the importance of working together to advance\u00a0understanding of diseases.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why\u00a0Study Proteins?<\/h2>\n

There are an estimated 80,000 to\u00a0400,000 proteins in the human\u00a0body and each one has a specific job,\u00a0including regulating glucose, moving\u00a0iron and building muscle. Antibodies,\u00a0enzymes and transport proteins are\u00a0some of the protein types that are\u00a0hard at work in our cells.<\/p>\n

Many of these proteins work\u00a0together to perform programmed\u00a0functions, but sometimes these\u00a0interactions deviate from the healthy\u00a0and expected course of action, which\u00a0can cause diseases such as cancer,\u00a0diabetes, and Alzheimer\u2019s. Han\u2019s\u00a0work aims to help researchers clearly\u00a0see protein networks and dynamics,\u00a0which can prevent or improve\u00a0the negative impacts of certain\u00a0diseases. Developing technologies to\u00a0understand how cellular functions in\u00a0the nucleus affect health and disease\u00a0is the goal of the 4D Nucleome\u00a0Program \u2014 but Han\u2019s efforts may\u00a0benefit other major bioimaging\u00a0initiatives too.<\/p>\n

\u201cScientists realize the genome\u00a0sequence is not enough information\u00a0to figure out what causes diseases in\u00a0the human body,\u201d Han says. \u201cResearch\u00a0consortiums are the next step in\u00a0diagnosing and treating disease.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Makes this Microscope Different?<\/h2>\n

There are two main types of\u00a0imaging microscopes \u2014 live cell\u00a0and super-resolution. Live cell\u00a0microscopy is a minimally invasive\u00a0method that keeps cells intact but\u00a0produces images with less detail.\u00a0Super-resolution microscopes\u00a0produce high-quality images\u00a0but can take days or weeks to do\u00a0so. Han\u2019s new microscope will\u00a0seamlessly switch between the\u00a0two imaging styles without losing\u00a0alignment, gaining crucial insight\u00a0into protein movement.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of our lab efforts is to\u00a0completely change the engineering,\u00a0optics and physics of one of the\u00a0most recent state-of-the-art\u00a0microscope systems,\u201d Han says.\u00a0\u201cWe are developing a microscopy\u00a0instrument that produces protein\u00a0images more accurately and more\u00a0quickly, and will be maintenance-free,\u00a0which will make the research\u00a0process more efficient and less\u00a0expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n

How will proteins be tracked and mapped?<\/h2>\n

Proteins are always on the move.\u00a0Researchers can\u2019t rely on just one\u00a0snapshot of a protein to understand\u00a0its impact; They need an image with\u00a0more dimension. That\u2019s why they\u00a0need a microscope that quickly and\u00a0accurately captures the locations of\u00a0proteins and how, when and where\u00a0they move.<\/p>\n

Han and his team of graduate\u00a0students are also working on a\u00a0method to engineer antibodies to\u00a0attach a bar code to target proteins.\u00a0This innovative technique will allow\u00a0researchers to identify countless\u00a0proteins as they interact.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe microscope we\u2019re developing\u00a0combined with the antibody bar code\u00a0tagging technique will enable us to\u00a0image proteins with more precise\u00a0resolution at 100 times the speed,\u201d\u00a0Han says.<\/p>\n

How do interdisciplinary interests drive these\u00a0innovative approaches?<\/h2>\n

During Han\u2019s undergraduate\u00a0studies in South Korea, he studied\u00a0biology for two years before\u00a0switching to chemistry. While\u00a0earning his chemistry doctorate,\u00a0he became interested in optics\u00a0and photonics after listening to a\u00a0presentation on super-resolution\u00a0microscopy, and ever since then\u00a0he\u2019s built his career on the subject.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m quite lucky to have been\u00a0exposed to these different areas,\u00a0and this is why I like bridging\u00a0several fields of science,\u201d Han\u00a0says. \u201cI\u2019ve reached out to medical\u00a0researchers to understand what\u00a0technical challenges they are faced\u00a0with. Now I\u2019m trying to provide\u00a0a new methodology using the\u00a0speed and precision of optics and photonics.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n


\n[photo id=”22446″ title=”Pegasus-WEB-FA2021-infographic-proteins-han-250×250″ alt=”Kyu Young Han” width=”100px”][\/photo]
Kyu Young Han, Assistant Professor of\u00a0Optics and Photonics<\/center><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":22445,"template":"","categories":[1127],"tags":[204],"class_list":["post-22339","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-infographic","tag-college-of-optics-and-photonics","issues-1541","issues-fall-2021"],"yoast_head":"\nPicture-perfect Proteins: Advancing Bioimaging to Improve Disease Diagnosis and Treatment<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A UCF researcher is developing new technologies to study protein movement in human cells in an effort to advance our ability to treat diseases.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/picture-perfect-proteins\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta 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