Neuronal Signaling of the Cerebellar-like Organoid Cells

A fluorescence microscopy image of a dense cell culture. The cells are stained with multiple fluorophores, appearing in bright red, electric blue, and neon green. Numerous elongated, thread-like processes extend from the cell bodies, forming a highly interconnected, multicolored network against a black background.

Label: Neuronal Signaling of the Cerebellar-like Organoid Cellse
Artist: Timothy Hua
Description: Human-induced pluripotent stem cells (HiPSCs) can differentiate into any cell types within the human body. They have been used to generate various organoid models that mimic the organs of interest such as the brain for development studying and disease modeling. The cerebellum (small brain) is located at the back of the brain and controls body movement and posture. HiPSCs were used to derived cerebellar-like organoids that contain the cerebellum specific cells. The organoids cells were allowed for attaching to a coated surface before staining for different neuronal markers. This image shows that the cells not only had neuronal axon (green) but also were positive for glutamate (red). Glutamate is one of the neurotransmitters that is responsible for over 90% of neuronal communication within the brain. These brain organoids will allow us to model human neurodegenerative diseases and cancer.
Type: Microscope
Artist Affiliation: Graduate Student
Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry
Area of Research: Organoid differentiation and brain cancer research
Date: 2019