This Bovine Pulmonary Artery Endothelial (BPAE) cell is stained to show two components of the cytoskeleton – microtubules in green, and actin filaments in red (in the top right panel). The cell is a crowded place, so one of the functions of the cytoskeleton is to act as a highway along which cellular components can be moved to the proper part of the cell. This … Continue reading Cytoskeleton Four Ways
The plume-like shape of these Bovine Pulmonary Artery Epithelial (BPAE) cells is characteristic of cell motility. Although cells that make up your tissues and organs are typically stationary throughout adult life, there are many reasons a cell may need to move around. For example, when you get a cut on your skin, skin cells move together during the healing process, closing the wound. Also, white … Continue reading Plumotion
Gene therapy is an approach to treating disease that uses genetic information—DNA—as a drug. Monogenic diseases, where a single genetic mutation results in a nonfunctional protein and disease-causing agent, are excellent candidates for treatment by gene therapy. A virus can be engineered to carry the corrected form of the mutant gene instead of its own viral genes. These engineered viruses, called vectors, still retain … Continue reading A Cure in Sight
Today’s image comes from this week’s Spring Seminar speaker, Shay Neufeld. This is a part of the brain called the striatum – a nucleus important for the learning and execution of coordinated, voluntary behaviors. Labelled in green are neurons that produce ‘enkephalin’. Labelled in red are the receptors that enkephalin binds to – the mu-opioid receptors. Mu-opioid receptors are also what drugs like morphine, heroin, and … Continue reading Addiction, OCD, and Riding a Bike: how opiates control your brain
The black fibers seen in this image are tubulin, a protein that makes up a large part of the cytoskeleton of all cells. The cytoskeleton provides structural support for the cell, and tubulin also performs specific functions such as the mitotic spindle. When a cell is ready to divide, tubulin fibers attach to each copy of the duplicated, condensed chromosomes. In this way, the tubulin … Continue reading Kaleidoskeleton
This is an image of a small artery in a mouse eyelid that has formed a thrombus (blood clot). When a blood vessel is damaged, chemicals that attract platelets are released from the site of injury. Platelets in the flowing blood stick to the site, and in turn release attractants for even more platelets. A cascade begins that causes fibrinogen, a protein that is dissolved … Continue reading Flowstopper
Image by Don W. Pottle This is an image of crystals of aspirin with caffeine. An Excedrin tablet was crushed in water and allowed to dissolve. Drops of the solution were placed on a glass microscope slide and allowed to dry. Examining and photographing the resulting crystals using a 60X oil immersion lens and DIC (Differential Interference Contrast) filters produced these spindle-like images. The spindles … Continue reading Crystallized Relief
The sequence of DNA bases found within our chromosomes serves as the instruction manual of life. Prior to cell division, this genetic information is accurately copied by a complex of different enzymes known collectively as the replisome. An essential component of this machinery is the DNA polymerase, which acts as the DNA copying enzyme. DNA bases that have been chemically damaged block the progression of … Continue reading Choreographing a Dynamic DNA Dance
The finger-like mound of cells in the central portion of this micrograph is an intestinal villus. The single layer of cells on its surface is the only barrier between the contents of the gut lumen and the inside of the body. The major job of these surface cells is to absorb nutrients from the food. The fingerlike villi help to increase the intestinal surface area … Continue reading Absorbathon
In all animals, the mother fills the egg with all the proteins and mRNAs necessary for early development. In Drosophila melanogaster (fruit flies), when one of these genes is missing, it can lead to severe malformations in the larval exoskeleton. The top image is the exoskeleton of a normal embryo where 11 segments are visible as bands of white bristles. The middle exoskeleton is missing two anterior, thoracic segments. … Continue reading Your mother is more important than your father (for your development)