Re-inventing the Microscope, Exploring Lamellipodia in HD

This video uses images cited from EMD-1919 by Small, Vinzenz, and Schmeiser with renderings/animation by Christopher Leggett. The Lamellipodia on the edge of motile cells result from the formation of actin polymers on the leading edge of moving cells (the strands in the image are actual actin filaments as captured by the microscope techniques).

Guided by chemotactic signals that communicate to the moving cell, actin monomers couple with ATP, and then use the energy of ATP hydrolysis to form longer actin filaments, in a process referred to as nucleation.

Tomograms contain 3-D volume data, so panning through the layers of the cube-shaped data in rapid succession provides evidence of 3-D structural features. The result is a series of images that move like a flip-book or cartoon animation.

Computer software and hardware advances are making computers more capable of bringing microscope images to life--providing a window to the inside of individual cells. Such animations are ideal for revealing structural details of the microscopic world that may be overlooked via utilization of other methods. Researchers are gathering and sharing such data at an exponential rate. Imagine at looking at your own cells this way.

Actin polymers are shown at the motile edge of the cell in this animation.

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Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Lamellipodia
• actin
• polymerization
• cell motility
• christopher leggett
• chris leggett
• wake forest school of medicine
• wfu school of medicine