Magnified 20 times, this 3D human organotypic buccal #cell culture consists of normal, human-derived oral epithelial cells. Red-stained E-cadherin, a calcium-dependent adhesion molecule, acts as an adhesion receptor in the adherens junctions. Brown-stained Ki67 as a proliferation marker is an excellent marker to determine the growth fraction of a given cell population. 

At a closer look one can spot the blue spots. Those are cell nuclei in this 3D human organotypic buccal cell culture. The elegant brown E-cadherin is a calcium-dependent adhesion molecule and acts as an adhesion receptor in the adherens junctions, with important functions in cell adhesion and cell signaling.

"The most striking aspect of science and therefore of the nature that surrounds us is certainly the incredible work done by natural selection…"

David Bovard, Scientist – Microphysiological Systems, shares the aspects of science that are beautiful to him. He observes unexpected beauty in his research and has captured these beautiful images of cells, cell cultures and spheroids.

Sanger sequencing is used to show the A, T, C, G nucleotide sequence of DNA (developed by Nobel prize winner Frederick Sanger). Here, Sanger sequencing is used to show the tobacco plant DNA sequence as a chromatogram. Higher peaks correspond to higher intensity fluorescence signal.

This human tonsil tissue IHC staining colors the basal epithelial cell marker p63 and cytokeratin 5 (CK5) in brown, while cytokeratin 14 (CK14) is colored red. CK5 is seen as brown membranous staining, while p63 staining is found in the nuclei. Where p63 is absent in the nuclei a blue hematoxylin counterstain is seen.

Immunohistochemical staining in brown shows the protein Ki67, a marker for cell proliferation (multiplication) found in B-cells (a type of white blood cells) in this human tonsil tissue. We use this to visualize the growth fraction in this cell population.

Red, brown, and blue staining show CK5, p63, and cell nuclei, respectively. CK5 – also known as cytokeratin 5 – is a protein that helps to compose the filaments that create the cytoskeleton of the basal epithelial cells in this human tonsil tissue, p63 is a marker for these basal epithelia cells.

CD68 is a protein expressed by macrophages and cells in the monocyte lineage (white blood cells). IHC staining in this appendix has colored the CD68 proteins in brown, while a hematoxylin counterstain identifies cell nuclei in blue.

Hematoxylin & eosin staining shows the mucosa (layers of cells containing mucous glands) of an appendix. From this indigo image you can see cross-sections of the glands – circular regions encapsulated in a darker purple.

Within this 3D human organotypic nasal cell culture, immunohistochemical staining highlights the protein FOXJ1 in brown while hematoxylin stains the nuclei blue. The FOXJ1 protein is part of the forkhead box (Fox) family of transcription factors that play key roles in cell proliferation and differentiation.

Staining for albumin (green), nuclei (blue), and α-smooth muscle actin (red) of human liver cells and human hepatic stellate cells create this triple-colored façade. These 10x magnified cells were cultured together to develop a more complex model system of the human liver.

How can we tell what DNA markers tobacco plants have? By separating the amplified microsatellite marker DNA with capillary electrophoresis, the process of loading DNA samples into gel capillaries and sending an electrical current through them. The current causes DNA molecules to travel through the gel, the smaller the DNA molecule the further away from the starting point they travel.

In between these cells of a 3D human organotypic bronchial cell culture resides the protein ZO-1, stained in red. The protein is expressed in tight junctions; seals between cells that form a permeability barrier. The intact red trails mean that there’s no cell damage. In cases of cell/tissue damage, the tight junctions would not be visible.

This picture highlights a slide of primary human bronchial cells - from the surface of the windpipe. The bright greens and reds in this image are created by staining for P63 and CD151 respectively. Why are we highlighting these cells? Because studying them gives us deeper knowledge of lung physiology - better understanding of their structure, function, and how they react to various stimuli.

This row of 3D human organotypic cells comes from nasal epithelium (inside a nose) made up of ciliated cells (which are topped with hair-like structures), goblet cells (which produce mucus), and basal cells (stem cells that can differentiate into other specialized cells). The flecks of red show the RNA expression of a gene called Hs-PPIB; a housekeeping gene.