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First prize, Alexey Khodjakov.This image of a newt lung cell shows the metaphase cell stained for centrosomes(magenta), microtubules (green), chromosomes (blue) and intermediate filaments(red). It is a maximal intensity projection through the entire cell volume. Technical details. Custom-modified TE200 microscope with 60 × 1.4 naobjective, piezo-positioner, filter wheel and Hamamatsu Orca II camera. Magnification,× 1,260.
Source publication
The standard of entries in the Olympus and Nature Light Microscopy
Competition was extremely high. But there could be only one winner: a stunning
image of a dividing newt lung cell.
Context in source publication
Context 1
... the skill shown by the competi- tors proved to be a challenge in itself, in that the equipment used for the entries ranged from modest student microscopes to com- plex and sometimes highly modified labora- tory installations. But the judges had little need of lengthy deliberation to select a stun- ning image of a dividing newt lung cell (Fig. 1) for the star prize. It was taken by Alexey Khodjakov, a research scientist at the Wadsworth Center in Albany, New York. This technical tour de force shows the major structural components of the mitotic spindle that is central to the process of cell division. Centrosomes (magenta) serve as nucleating centres from which microtubules ...
Citations
... It is a maximal intensity projection through the entire cell volume. From[109]. (2) Cartoon representing the buckling of microtubules in mitotic spindle. (a) Antiparallel array of microtubules under the action of a longitudinal force F . ...
Despite impressive advances in chemistry and biology, the mimicking of the complexity and functionality of natural cells in artificial systems still remains in its infancy. Liposomes for instance have been extensively used to reproduce some basic properties of cells and particularly biological membranes, whereas other studies have focused on the elaboration of fibrous networks to represent intra- and extra cellular matrices. But so far, there are only a few examples in which both cytoskeleton and membranes have been combined. Here we discuss the different strategies towards cell construction mimics explored so far, which consist of the incorporation of artificial fibrillar networks within liposomes. These fibrillar networks can be based on polymers or self-assembled structures, and the examples illustrate how their confinement within artificial cells can affect their shape, stability or compartmentalization. The challenge for the next decades will be to develop systems capable of more complex functions like endo- and exocytosis and motility by including some of the dynamic properties of the natural cytoskeleton.
