Congratulations to Dr. Justin Palermo of the Lin Lab on receiving F32 Postdoctoral Fellowship from the National Insitutes of Health titled: "Spatiotemporal Regulation of AMPK During Amoeboid Migration." We spoke with Justin about the research this award will support.

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What is your research focused on?

In the Lin Lab, we study cellular migration in fruit fly embryos, which are translucent and allow us to visualize cells in real time as they develop. Using a laser-powered microscope and genetically engineered flies, we can observe proteins at subcellular resolution in live migrating cells called primordial germ cells.

My NIH F32 fellowship will support research on AMPK, a protein that senses cellular energy levels.

What question are you investigating?

I'm interested in how energy is integrated into the energy intesive process of cellular migration. We already know that disrupting AMPK affects migrational success. Now we're trying to understand why.

What are some of the possible explanations?

One possibility is that migration must be carefully coordinated with the limited energy available to the cell. Another is that cells selectively move toward or away from areas of low energy.

Why are primordial germ cells a compelling model?

These cells must successfully migrate during development, and failure to do so results in sterility in the adult organism. This raises questions about why nature has evolved such a challenging journey for these cells and how metabolism contributes to their success.

What broader significance could this work have?

Studying these cells may reveal something fundamental about cellular metabolism that is shared across living organisms. These questions are also relevant to diseases such as cancer, which often involve changes in both migration and metabolism.

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Congratulations again to Dr. Justin Palermo on this well-deserved NIH F32 fellowship award.