- Label
- Viewing Cancer Through a Mathematical Lens
- Artist
- Kelsey Gasior
- Description
- This image captures MCF7 (breast) carcinoma cells and was taken while researching the epithelial mesenchymal transition. The epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a process by which epithelial cells change the way they behave so as to adopt the mobile and invasive properties of mesenchymal cells. By undergoing EMT, cancer cells are able to metastasize. Several factors can inhibit the upregulation of EMT, such as cell-cell adhesion. Cell-cell adhesion can promote the presence of E-cadherin (a transmembrane protein), which is shown in red. The nuclei of the cells are shown in blue. A classic marker of mesenchymal cells, vimentin, was tagged with a green fluorescent marker. In this image, cells are completely confluent and have grown on top of each other. Cells exhibiting vimentin and undergoing EMT are actually below the top layer of cells. Thus, despite the abundance of cell-cell contact, some cells are still capable of transitioning and becoming invasive. As a biomathematician, I tend to see biological problems through a mathematical lens: using mathematics to understand the world around me feels like putting on a pair of glasses. This image was captured during my graduate work but, over the years, I have continued to study it and now, when I look at it, I see the beautiful geometry of the cells. Thus, I have overlaid my own mathematical lens to this biological image.
- Type
- Microscope
- Artist Affiliation
- Postdoctoral Researcher
- Department
- Mathematics
- Area of Research
- Biomathematics
- Date
- 2016