nervous system of a 5 mm long juvenile medaka (Japanese killifish) outlined in fluorescently-labeled tubulin, the beta form of which is expressed only in neural tissue
light sheet microscopy
credit: Philipp J. Keller, HHMI Janeli Farm, and Lazaro Centanin and Annette D. Schmidt, EMBL
it’s only a flesh wound
colored SEM
credit: National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research (NCMIR)
gastric lobe of a murine pancreas (blood vessels in blue, beta cells in red, alpha cells in green)
the pancreas is both endocrine and exocrine: digestive enzymes and bicarbonate ions produced by acinar and centroacinar cells, respectively, drain via the pancreatic duct to meet up in the duodenum with bile from the gall bladder
islets of Langerhans, containing alpha (glucagon-producing), beta (insulin-producing), delta (somatostatin-producing), epsilon (ghrelin-producing), and PP or gamma (pancreatic polypeptide-producing) cells, constitute the endocrine (hormone-producing) component of the large glandular organ
light sheet fluorescence microscopy
credit: Jurgen Mayer, Center for Genomic Regulation, Barcelona
three-week old mouse retinal vasculature, organized in two layers (shown in blue/purple and yellow/orange)
confocal, flat-mount
credit: Michael Bridge
psychedelic rat colon, verging on a very convincing tie-dye pattern
credit: Nikon fluorescence microscopy digital image library
rat cerebellum
two-photon microscopy
credit: Thomas Deerinck
the optic nerve is composed of axonal projections from retinal ganglion cells, neurons that receive inputs (via amacrine and horizontal cells) from the photoreceptors (rods and cones)
here ganglion cell axons (fluorescently labeled in pink) are converging at the optic disc to gather as cranial nerve I
blood vessels also enter and leave in this area, touched by the delicate arcs of astrocyte processes, shown in electric blue
light microscopy, 82x
credit: Eric Cho
la reazione nera
the pairing of hippocampus and silver nitrate
light microscopy, Golgi stain
credit: HITO Biotec
cross-section through sperm flagella
closer to the head of the sperm, mitochondria are packed in a spiraling sheath around the microtubules in a region simply termed the mid- or connecting piece, basically functioning as the motor that drives the wild swimming of flagellated sperm
colored TEM
credit: Steve Schmeissner
apparently someone was feeling creative over at Science Photo Library
and though I could explain all the inaccuracies and impossibilities about this little piece (of which there are many, I assure you), we could alternatively just accept it as art and let it be
and so, I would like to title this piece “an exercise in self-control”
okay
who’s in charge of coloring these micrographs?
seriously
sperm should not look like skittles
case closed
thank you
taste the rainbow
(bahahaha sorry)
colored SEM
credit: Science Photo Library
(attempted) fertilization of ovum by sperm
it’s no easy task
first of all, 99% of the sperm don’t even make it to the cervix
yup
for the lucky 1% that do (a number that amounts to approximately 300 to 500 of the original 200 to 300 million), multiple challenges await: a wall of corona radiata cells, the zona pellucida glycoprotein matrix, and finally the ovum’s plasma membrane (booby-trapped, of course)
and it’s a race
once the winner reaches that finish line, lysosomal enzymes are immediately released from cortical granules lining the ovum’s plasma membrane
these enzymes cross-link the zona pellucida glycoproteins, hardening the matrix into an impenetrable shell to ensure fertilization by only a single sperm
tough love
colored SEM
credit: Science Photo Library
human cortical neural stem cells labeled with TUJ-1 (neuron-specific tubulin, green) and astrocytes with GFAP (red); nuclei in blue for both
credit: Kymmy Lorrain
rat hippocampus stained for alpha-synuclein, a 140-amino acid protein found in the cytosol and nuclei of neurons (and sometimes glia)
alpha-synuclein is also the main component of Lewy bodies, the hallmark histopathological feature of Parkinson’s disease
confocal, immunofluorescence
credit: Cell Signalling Tech
tangle of rat hippocampus stained for DNA (blue), neuronal markers (red), and astrocyte markers (green)
credit: Remko de Pril
(because pluripotency is overrated)
