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    Small blood vessels in a mouse retina
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    Small blood vessels in a mouse retina

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    Blood vessels at the back of the eye (retina) are used to diagnose glaucoma and diabetic eye disease. They also display characteristic changes in people with high blood pressure. In the image, the vessels appear green. It's not actually the vessels that are stained green, but rather filaments of a protein called actin that wraps around the vessels. Most of the red blood cells were replaced by fluid as the tissue was prepared for the microscope. The tiny red dots are red blood cells that remain in the vessels. The image was captured using confocal and 2-photon excitation microscopy for a project related to neurofibromatosis.
    Public Note
    Internal NoteFrom: Tom Deerinck [mailto:deerinck@ncmir.ucsd.edu] Sent: Monday, October 28, 2013 12:14 PM To: Machalek, Alisa Zapp (NIH/NIGMS) [E] Subject: Re: caption check--arterioles in mouse retina Hi Alisa, The caption information is correct. During the course of imaging retinal tissue using confocal and 2-photon excitation microscopy for a project related to work we did on neurofibromatosis, I saw this region of retinal vasculature that I found interesting. When most people think of actin they think of muscle, but neurons in the brain contain large amounts in dendritic spines (as well as other places) as do the endothelial cells surrounding vasculature throughout the organism. Most of the RBCs have been removed by vascular perfusion prior to imaging, but a few remain. Anything else? Best wishes, Tom D. On 10/28/13 7:40 AM, Machalek, Alisa Zapp (NIH/NIGMS) [E] wrote: Hi Tom, I?m going to be featuring a couple of your images on our Web site and would like to make sure that what I?m writing about them is accurate. Can you look over the caption below and let me know if you have any comments/corrections? (I?ll wordsmith it a bit, but want to make sure the basic facts are correct.) Small blood vessels (arterioles) in a mouse retina. Red blood cells are stained red. Actin proteins (stained green) control blood flow [and/or blood pressure?] by wrapping loops around the vessels, forming a mesh that, like muscles, can squeeze or relax. Is there something special about arterioles in the retina that persuaded you to focus on them? Do they squeeze and relax more than other arterioles? Are they just easy to prepare for microscopy? Was there an eye-related project you were working on? Or?? Also, is there anything special about the technique(s) used to obtain this image? Thanks, Alisa
    Keywords
    SourceNational Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research
    Date2012-08-27 00:00:00
    Credit LineNational Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research
    InvestigatorTom Deerinck and Mark Ellisman
    Record TypePhotograph
    Topic Area(s);#Cells;#Tools and Techniques;#
    Previous UsesBioBeat http://publications.nigms.nih.gov/insidelifescience/visualizing-vessels.html
    StatusActive

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