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Liquid Phase Separation of DDX4 protein

Supervisor

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Live cell imaging of co-culture skin cancer spheroids. The patient-derived skin cancer cell line, UW-CSCC2 (magenta), and dermal fibroblasts (cyan) were seeded in ultra-low attachment plates to facilitate spheroid formation. Z-stacks of live spheroids were taken every 2h45min for 60h. This revealed the formation of a cancer shell around a fibroblastic core. Investigation of other combinations of fibroblasts and cancer cell lines indicate the formation of distinctive spatial architectures for each combination (not shown). 

Supervisor

Description

Sensing our world is a critical but often overlooked part of everyday life. In particular, our skin is able to detect sensations as delicate as the stroking of a feather to as harsh as the stabbing of a pin prick. This image highlights the cells at the forefront of providing these experiences, our peripheral sensory nerves. We are growing these cells in the dish to observe how they develop and function, with particular interest in how a 3D environment influences their behaviour. This work is towards the generation of an innervated human skin model, for improved future wound therapeutics. 

Supervisor

Mirella Dottori

Description

The media shown is a compilation of U2OS cells undergoing treatments that create stressful cell conditions. The images show oxidative and heat stresses. In response, cells enable the formation of biomolecular condensates known as stress granules to sequester RNA and translational machinery. This allows the cells to conserve resources for cytoprotective processes and protect sensitive components of translation. In a weird poetic irony, it was actually me who was stressed doing these experiments. 

Supervisor

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The intermediary filament, Vimentin, in a patient-derived skin cancer cell line. High-magnification imaging of the skin cancer cell line, UW-CSCC1, resolves the filamentous nature of Vimentin (magenta) and Actin (yellow). Nuclei can be seen in cyan. Vimentin is an intermediary filament that is associated with epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and progression in cSCC. Thus, the expression of Vimentin is reflective of the metastatic biology of the patient tumor.

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Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are a new research tool to better understand developmental diseases. These images are of iPSCs derived from Friedreich's ataxia patients, which have been differentiated into sensory neurons. These patients are deficient in the protein frataxin, which is usually crucial for mitochondrial homeostasis. The mitochondrial morphology can reveal how healthy the population is, however, it has not been thoroughly characterised in sensory neurons. Thus, live cell imaging of mitochondria (magenta) using MitoTracker™, the plasma membrane (orange), and nucleus (cyan), was imaged to help understand mitochondrial dysmetabolism in Friedreich’s ataxia (using confocal microscopy). Note individual mitochondria in the neuron processes!

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Mouse hippocampal neurons are derived from the hippocampi of normal embryonic mouse by standardized methods and form complex neurite network in one week. Stain positive for MAP2.

Description

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are a new research tool to better understand developmental diseases. These images are of iPSCs derived from Friedreich's ataxia patients, which have been differentiated into sensory neurons (shown here). These patients are deficient in the protein frataxin, which is usually crucial for mitochondrial homeostasis. The mitochondrial morphology can reveal how healthy the population is, however, it has not been thoroughly characterised in sensory neurons. Thus, live cell imaging of mitochondria (magenta) using MitoTracker™, the plasma membrane (orange), and nucleus (cyan), was imaged to help understand mitochondrial dysmetabolism in Friedreich’s ataxia (using confocal microscopy). Note individual mitochondria in the neuron processes!

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Stalagmites record historical precipitation variability in their annual laminae, this allows paleoclimatologists a window into the past by geochemical means. Little work has utilized confocal luminescence microscopy to examine the relationship between natural fluorescence and rainfall events. This image shows the crystalline fabric of a seasonal ‘wet’ band and its incorporation of fluorescent material. The nature of the fabric and fluorescence means there is likelihood of organic material in the band, either from organic acids from the overlying vegetation of the cave or perhaps from a flooding event. The stalagmite in the image encompasses climate variability from ~500 years ago.

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Astrocytes generated from Huntington's Disease human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) exhibited a typical astrocyte morphology and expressed astrocyte markers glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)[red] observed under Confocal Microscopy at Molecular Horizons. Samples were counter-stained with 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole, dihydrochloride (DAPI) to visualize the nuclei [blue].

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Fluorescence of Cannabis sativa L. including trichomes, the fine stalked glandular outgrowths located on female flowers that hold resin containing the plants essential oils.

Description

The media shown is a compilation of U2OS cells undergoing treatments that create stressful cell conditions. In the images, we have oxidative and heat stresses. In response, cells enable the formation of biomolecular condensates known as stress granules to sequester RNA and translational machinery. This allows the cells to conserve resources for cytoprotective processes and protect sensitive components of translation.

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Astrocytes (star-shaped cells) form unique constellations in the human brain. These constellations help to control many functions, including behaviour and mood. Image consists of fluorescent tilescans of 16 human cortex sections, showcasing the diversity of individual constellations.

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Anterior cingulate cortex brain tissue from an individual with major depressive disorder stained for astrocytes (red, GFAP), neurons (yellow, NeuN) and FKBP5 (green). Nuclei indicated in blue.

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Mosses are tiny plant pioneers of the urban environment. Often present, usually overlooked. They exploit many niches in the built environment, largely because of their physiology and adaptations such as desiccation tolerance – the ability to dry when moisture is scarce, suspending metabolism until water is available. They have no roots, only rhizoids to anchor to the substrate. Mosses can survive without specialised transport tissue because their leaves, pictured here, are only one cell thick, and can absorb water and nutrients by diffusion. My research focuses on the ecology of urban moss and how they survive these harsh places.

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Microglia - friend or foe. Microglia are the brain's resident immune cell, they protect the brain from infection and remove cellular debris. In neurodegenerative disease, including Alzheimer's disease, microglia play both neuroprotective and neurodegenerative roles, with work focussed on understanding what causes these changes. Patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells offer a valuable tool to generate microglia in a dish and study these disease phenotypes. This is a iPSC-derived microglia stained for the microglia marker IBA1 to visualise the morphological changes between healthy controls and patient lines.

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Spatiotemporal autophagy regulation in Caenorhabditis elegans expressing mCherry::gfp::lgg-1 during starvation