Art of Research Image Contest

Creeping fat is a unique phenomenon observed in Crohn's disease patients with intestinal strictures and is characterized by the wrapping of adjacent mesenteric adipose tissue around the intestine. Primary fibroblasts were isolated from human ileocolonic surgical resections and cultured in vitro. The image depicts patient derived fibroblasts exposed to bacterial lysates from candidate taxa believed to influence intestinal fibrosis and creeping fat in Crohn's disease patients.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a therapy used to treat motor disorders like Parkinson's Disease. This MRI and CT-based reconstruction shows the location of DBS electrodes targeting the basal ganglia, here appearing as an insect-like creature. The electrodes, shown in white, pass through the crab-like claw of the striatum and terminate in the subthalamic nucleus, shown in yellow. The red eyes of the insect are the red nucleus, a key structure in controlling rhythmic behaviors like walking.

The cells in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were collected from wild-type C57BL6 mice treated with LPS plus mechanical ventilation (MV). The cells were stained, cytocentrifuged and observed. The cells were stained with Zombie Red (Red), anti-MPO antibody (green) and DAPI (blue). We can observe many cells with extruded DNA (blue) co-stained with MPO (green) and amine group protein (Zombie Red), which indicate neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) formation. They look like planets and shooting stars ("NETosing" cells) orbiting among scattered blue stars (nucleus of BAL cells) in the galaxy space. We hypothesize that NETs formation is associated in the development of two-hit acute lung injury induced by LPS plus MV.

ALS-patient derived iPS cells that have been differentiated and matured into cortical neurons.This well was fixed after 60 days in culture, stained with antibodies that recognize the pan-neuronalprotein MAP2ab (green), the deep layer pyramidal neuron marker CTIP2 (red) and the nuclei representedby DAPI (blue). This specific combination indicates the presence of LV pyramidal neurons, a cell typeimplicated in ALS disease etiology. 1st Place Winner Veronica Garcia is studying Neuroscience/AlSin the Regenerative Medicine Institute. Veronica is a postdoctoral scientist in Dr. Clive Svendsen Lab.

Human liver Cancer cells (huh7) showing the non-mitochondrial localization of an endogenous mitochondrial inhibitor protein. Mitochondria (pink), protein of interest (orange). We hypothesize that the failure of this protein targeting mitochondria could contribute to a higher mitochondrial metabolism in liver cancer. 2nd place winner, Lucia Barbier Torres is studying Liver Disease in the Department of Gastroenterology. Lucia is a postdoctoral Scientist in Dr. Shelly Lu's Lab.

The image shows fluorescent staining of the cytoskeleton within metastatic prostate cancer cells. The nuclei of the cells are stained with DAPI (blue), the microtubules glow (green) with AlexaFluor488 and the F-actin filaments are stained bright (red) with AlexaFluor555. The scientific relevance is that we can see dynamic changes in the cytoskeleton when the cells divide (lower left), compared to their normal adherent state (upper & lower right). Cytoskeletal dynamics affect the response of prostate cancer cells to treatment. 3rd place winner, Sara Pollan is studying Metastatic Cancer in the Department of Biomedical Sciences. Sara is a Postdoctoral Scientist in Dr. Beatrice Knudsen's Lab.