Competition in the Crypt
Here is an image of the small intestine, zoomed in on the crypts. The “Confetti” gene was activated in all cells in the intestine, including stem cells. Once the Cre recombination process is over, each stem cell produces progeny that inherit the same fluorescent marking. The number of cells in the crypt is fixed. Thus, over time, stem cells (~14) compete each other out of this niche, and the crypt becomes clonal, visualized here by monochromatic crypts.
Image: This image was taken 4 months after Cre activation using a Leica Sp5 microscope. Clonal conveyor belts from the crypt base to the top of villi are imaged with four different colors at 40x magnification.
Nov 26
Dr. Jennifer L. Peters & Dr. Michael R. Taylor
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Subject Matter:
The blood-brain barrier in a live zebrafish embryo
(20x)Technique:
Dr. Jennifer Peters’ and Dr. Michael Taylor’s winning image of the blood-brain barrier in a live zebrafish embryo perfectly demonstrates the intersection of art and science that drives the Nikon Small World Competition.
The blood-brain barrier plays a critical role in neurological function and disease. Drs. Peters and Taylor, developed a transgenic zebrafish to visualize the development of this structure in a live specimen. By doing so, this model proves that not only can we image the blood-brain barrier, but we can also genetically and chemically dissect the signaling pathways that modulate the blood-brain barrier function and development.
Both Peters and Taylor have more than ten years of imaging experience. Peters is an imaging scientist in the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s Light Microscopy Core Facility and Taylor is an Assistant Member in the Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics at St. Jude Children’s Research.
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