Hydra magnipapillata is an invertebrate animal used as a model organism to study developmental questions, for example the formation of the body axis.

A crane fly spermatocyte during metaphase of meiosis-I, a step in the production of sperm. A meiotic spindle pulls apart three pairs of autosomal chromosomes, along with a sex chromosome on the right. Tubular mitochondria surround the spindle and chromosomes. This video was captured with quantitative orientation-independent differential interference contrast and is a time lapse showing a 1-second image taken every 30 seconds over the course of 30 minutes.

More information about the research that produced this video can be found in the J. Biomed Opt. paper “Orientation-Independent Differential Interference Contrast (DIC) Microscopy and Its Combination with Orientation-Independent Polarization System” by Shribak et. al.

DNA (blue) and actin (red) in cultured fibroblast cells.

This is a super-resolution light microscope image taken by Hiro Hakozaki and Masa Hoshijima of NCMIR. The image contains highlighted calcium channels in cardiac muscle using a technique called dSTORM. The microscope used in the NCMIR lab was built by Hiro Hakozaki.

A zebrafish head with blood vessels shown in purple. Researchers often study zebrafish because they share many genes with humans, grow and reproduce quickly, and have see-through eggs and embryos, which make it easy to study early stages of development.

This image was captured using a light sheet microscope.

Related to video 6933.

3D image of Caulobacter bacterium with various components highlighted: cell membranes (red and blue), protein shell (green), protein factories known as ribosomes (yellow), and storage granules (orange).

This video results from a research project to visualize which regions of the adult fruit fly (Drosophila) brain derive from each neural stem cell. First, researchers collected several thousand fruit fly larvae and fluorescently stained a random stem cell in the brain of each. The idea was to create a population of larvae in which each of the 100 or so neural stem cells was labeled at least once. When the larvae grew to adults, the researchers examined the flies’ brains using confocal microscopy. With this technique, the part of a fly’s brain that derived from a single, labeled stem cell “lights up.” The scientists photographed each brain and digitally colorized its lit-up area. By combining thousands of such photos, they created a three-dimensional, color-coded map that shows which part of the Drosophila brain comes from each of its ~100 neural stem cells. In other words, each colored region shows which neurons are the progeny or “clones” of a single stem cell. This work established a hierarchical structure as well as nomenclature for the neurons in the Drosophila brain. Further research will relate functions to structures of the brain.

Related to images 5838 and 5868.

Two highly stressed osteosarcoma cells are shown with a set of green droplet-like structures followed by a second set of magenta droplets. These droplets are composed of fluorescently labeled stress-response proteins, either G3BP or UBQLN2 (Ubiquilin-2). Each protein is undergoing a fascinating process, called phase separation, in which a non-membrane bound compartment of the cytoplasm emerges with a distinct environment from the surrounding cytoplasm. Subsequently, the proteins fuse with like proteins to form larger droplets, in much the same way that raindrops merge on a car’s windshield.

2.5Å resolution reconstruction of rabbit muscle aldolase collected on a FEI/Thermo Fisher Titan Krios with energy filter and image corrector.

Like a major city, a cell teems with specialized workers that carry out its daily operations--making energy, moving proteins, or helping with other tasks. Researchers took microscopic pictures of thin layers of a cell and then combined them to make this 3-D image featuring color-coded organelles--the cell's "workers." Using this image, scientists can understand how these specialized components fit together in the cell's packed inner world.

Multiple anthrax bacteria (green) being enveloped by an immune system cell (purple). Anthrax bacteria live in soil and form dormant spores that can survive for decades. When animals eat or inhale these spores, the bacteria activate and rapidly increase in number. Today, a highly effective and widely used vaccine has made the disease uncommon in domesticated animals and rare in humans.

This image was part of the Life: Magnified exhibit that ran from June 3, 2014, to January 21, 2015, at Dulles International Airport.

This fluorescent microscope image shows human embryonic stem cells whose nuclei are stained green. Blue staining shows the surrounding supportive feeder cells. Image and caption information courtesy of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. See related image 3275.

The extracellular matrix (ECM) is most prevalent in connective tissues but also is present between the stems (axons) of nerve cells. The axons of nerve cells are surrounded by the ECM encasing myelin-supplying Schwann cells, which insulate the axons to help speed the transmission of electric nerve impulses along the axons.

Learn about some of the different jobs in a scientific laboratory and how researchers work as a team to make discoveries. Discover more resources from NIGMS’ Pathways collaboration with Scholastic. View the video on YouTube for closed captioning.

A colorized scanning electron micrograph of bacteria. Scanning electron microscopes allow scientists to see the three-dimensional surface of their samples.

A light microscope image of a cell from the endosperm of an African globe lily (Scadoxus katherinae). This is one frame of a time-lapse sequence that shows cell division in action. The lily is considered a good organism for studying cell division because its chromosomes are much thicker and easier to see than human ones. Staining shows microtubules in red and chromosomes in blue.

Related to images 1010, 1011, 1013, 1014, 1015, 1016, 1017, 1018, 1019, and 1021.

Crystals of fungal lipase protein created for X-ray crystallography, which can reveal detailed, three-dimensional protein structures.

The small intestine is where most of our nutrients from the food we eat are absorbed into the bloodstream. The walls of the intestine contain small finger-like projections called villi which increase the organ's surface area, enhancing nutrient absorption. It consists of the duodenum, which connects to the stomach, the jejenum and the ileum, which connects with the large intestine. Related to image 3390.

Model of the enzyme nicotinic acid phosphoribosyltransferase. This enzyme, from the archaebacterium, Pyrococcus furiosus, is expected to be structurally similar to a clinically important human protein called B-cell colony enhancing factor based on amino acid sequence similarities and structure prediction methods. The structure consists of identical protein subunits, each shown in a different color, arranged in a ring.

Luciferase-based imaging enables visualization and quantification of internal organs and transplanted cells in live adult zebrafish. This image shows how luciferase-based imaging could be used to visualize the heart for regeneration studies (left), or label all tissues for stem cell transplantation (right).
For imagery of both the lateral and overhead view go to 3556.
For imagery of the overhead view go to 3557.
For imagery of the lateral view go to 3558.

X-ray crystallography allows researchers to see structures too small to be seen by even the most powerful microscopes. To visualize the arrangement of atoms within molecules, researchers can use the diffraction patterns obtained by passing X-ray beams through crystals of the molecule. This is a common way for solving the structures of proteins. See image 2512 for a labeled version of this illustration. Featured in The Structures of Life.

When the heat shock protein hsp33 is folded, it is inactive and contains a zinc ion, stabilizing the redox sensitive domain (orange). In the presence of an environmental stressor, the protein releases the zinc ion, which leads to the unfolding of the redox domain. This unfolding causes the chaperone to activate by reaching out its "arm" (green) to protect other proteins.

Scientists from Argonne National Laboratory's Advanced Photon Source (APS) display the first X-ray diffraction pattern obtained from a protein crystal using a split X-ray beam, the first of its kind at APS. The scientists shown are (from left to right): Oleg Makarov, Ruslan Sanishvili, Robert Fischetti (project manager), Sergey Stepanov, and Ward Smith.

Los ritmos circadianos son cambios físicos, mentales y de comportamiento que siguen un ciclo de 24 horas. Los ritmos circadianos se ven influenciados por la luz y están regulados por el núcleo supraquiasmático del cerebro, a veces denominado el reloj principal.

Vea 6613 para la versión en inglés de esta infografía.

It has been said that gastrulation is the most important event in a person's life. This part of early embryonic development transforms a simple ball of cells and begins to define cell fate and the body axis. In a study published in Science magazine, NIGMS grantee Bob Goldstein and his research group studied how contractions of actomyosin filaments in C. elegans and Drosophila embryos lead to dramatic rearrangements of cell and embryonic structure. In these images, myosin (green) and plasma membrane (red) are highlighted at four timepoints in gastrulation in the roundworm C. elegans. The blue highlights in the top three frames show how cells are internalized, and the site of closure around the involuting cells is marked with an arrow in the last frame. See related image 3297.

An NMR solution structure model of the transfer RNA splicing enzyme endonuclease in humans (subunit Sen15). This represents the first structure of a eukaryotic tRNA splicing endonuclease subunit.

A colony of human embryonic stem cells (light blue) grows on fibroblasts (dark blue).

A Janus particle being used to activate a T cell, a type of immune cell. A Janus particle is a specialized microparticle with different physical properties on its surface, and this one is coated with nickel on one hemisphere and anti-CD3 antibodies (light blue) on the other. The nickel enables the Janus particle to be moved using a magnet, and the antibodies bind to the T cell and activate it. The T cell in this video was loaded with calcium-sensitive dye to visualize calcium influx, which indicates activation. The intensity of calcium influx was color coded so that warmer color indicates higher intensity. Being able to control Janus particles with simple magnets is a step toward controlling individual cells’ activities without complex magnetic devices.

More details can be found in the Angewandte Chemie paper “Remote control of T cell activation using magnetic Janus particles” by Lee et al. This video was captured using epi-fluorescence microscopy.

Related to video 6801.

The arrangement of identical molecular components can make a dramatic difference. For example, carbon atoms can be arranged into dull graphite (left) or sparkly diamonds (right). See image 2506 for an illustration without examples.

A mouse liver glows after being tagged with specially designed infrared-fluorescent protein (IFP). Since its discovery in 1962, green fluorescent protein (GFP) has become an invaluable resource in biomedical imaging. But because of its short wavelength, the light that makes GFP glow doesn't penetrate far in whole animals. So University of California, San Diego cell biologist Roger Tsien--who shared the 2008 Nobel Prize in chemistry for groundbreaking work with GFP--made infrared-fluorescent proteins (IFPs) that shine under longer-wavelength light, allowing whole-body imaging in small animals.

An adult Hawaiian bobtail squid, Euprymna scolopes, (~4 cm) surrounded by newly hatched juveniles (~2 mm) in a bowl of seawater.

Related to image 7011 and video 7012.

Using an electrode, researchers apply an electrical pulse onto a piece of muscle tissue affected by Huntington's disease.

NIGMS staff are located in the Natcher Building on the NIH campus.

This video simulation shows what an uncontrolled outbreak of transmissible avian flu among people living in Thailand might look like. Red indicates new cases while green indicates areas where the epidemic has finished. The video shows the spread of infection and recovery over 300 days in Thailand and neighboring countries.

A cross section of the measles virus in which six proteins work together to infect cells. The measles virus is extremely infectious; 9 out of 10 people exposed will contract the disease. Fortunately, an effective vaccine protects against infection.

For a zoomed-in look at the six important proteins, see Measles Virus Proteins.

Yeast cells that abnormally accumulate cell wall material (blue) at their ends and, when preparing to divide, in their middles. This image was captured using wide-field microscopy with deconvolution.

Related to images 6791, 6792, 6793, 6794, 6798, and videos 6795 and 6796.

Many researchers use the mouse (Mus musculus) as a model organism to study mammalian biology. Mice carry out practically all the same life processes as humans and, because of their small size and short generation times, are easily raised in labs. Scientists studying a certain cellular activity or disease can choose from tens of thousands of specially bred strains of mice to select those prone to developing certain tumors, neurological diseases, metabolic disorders, premature aging, or other conditions.

The human genome contains much of the information needed for every cell in the body to function. However, different types of cells often need different types of information. Access to DNA is controlled, in part, by how tightly it’s wrapped around proteins called histones to form nucleosomes. The complex shown here, from yeast cells (PDB entry 6Z6P), includes several histone deacetylase (HDAC) enzymes (green and blue) bound to a nucleosome (histone proteins in red; DNA in yellow). The yeast HDAC enzymes are similar to the human enzymes. Two enzymes form a V-shaped clamp (green) that holds the other others, a dimer of the Hda1 enzymes (blue). In this assembly, Hda1 is activated and positioned to remove acetyl groups from histone tails.

This sculpture made of purple and clear glass beads depicts bacteriophage Phi174, a virus that infects bacteria. It rests on a surface that portrays an adaptive landscape, a conceptual visualization. The ridges represent the gene combinations associated with the greatest fitness levels of the virus, as measured by how quickly the virus can reproduce itself. Phi174 is an important model system for studies of viral evolution because its genome can readily be sequenced as it evolves under defined laboratory conditions.

These images show three stages of cell division in Xenopus XL177 cells, which are derived from tadpole epithelial cells. They are (from top): metaphase, anaphase and telophase. The microtubules are green and the chromosomes are blue. Related to 3443.

Animation for the cisternae maturation model of Golgi transport.

Cross-section of skin anatomy shows layers and different tissue types.

Enzymes speed up chemical reactions by reducing the amount of energy needed for the reactions. The substrate (lactose) binds to the active site of the enzyme (lactase) and is converted into products (sugars).

Merged fluorescent images of symmetrically (left) or asymmetrically (right) elongating HeLa cells at the end of early anaphase (magenta) and late anaphase (green). Chromosomes and cortical actin are visualized by expressing mCherry-histone H2B and Lifeact-mCherry. Scale bar, 10µm. See the PubMed abstract of this research.

A crystal of bacterial glucose isomerase protein created for X-ray crystallography, which can reveal detailed, three-dimensional protein structures.

Jellyfish are especially good models for studying the evolution of embryonic tissue layers. Despite being primitive, jellyfish have a nervous system (stained green here) and musculature (red). Cell nuclei are stained blue. By studying how tissues are distributed in this simple organism, scientists can learn about the evolution of the shapes and features of diverse animals.

This image was part of the Life: Magnified exhibit that ran from June 3, 2014, to January 21, 2015, at Dulles International Airport.

A light microscope image of a cell from the endosperm of an African globe lily (Scadoxus katherinae). This is one frame of a time-lapse sequence that shows cell division in action. The lily is considered a good organism for studying cell division because its chromosomes are much thicker and easier to see than human ones. Staining shows microtubules in red and chromosomes in blue. Here, condensed chromosomes are clearly visible and are starting to line up.

Related to images 1010, 1011, 1012, 1013, 1014, 1015, 1017, 1018, 1019, and 1021.

A humorous treatment of the concept of a cycling cell.

During development, a zebrafish embryo is transformed from a ball of cells into a recognizable body plan by sweeping convergence and extension cell movements. This process is called gastrulation. Each line in this video represents the movement of a single zebrafish embryo cell over the course of 3 hours. The video was created using time-lapse confocal microscopy. Related to image 6775.

Each point in these colorful patchworks represents the correlation between two sleep-associated genes in fruit flies. Vibrant reds and oranges represent high and intermediate degrees of association between the genes, respectively. Genes in these areas show similar activity patterns in different fly lines. Cool blues represent gene pairs where one partner's activity is high and the other's is low. The green areas show pairs with activities that are not correlated. These quilt-like depictions help illustrate a recent finding that genes act in teams to influence sleep patterns.