34 research outputs found
Array tomography: Characterizing FAC-sorted populations of zebrafish immune cells by their 3D ultrastructure
For 3D reconstructions of whole immune cells from zebrafish, isolated from adult animals by FAC-sorting we employed array tomography on hundreds of serial sections deposited on silicon wafers. Image stacks were either recorded manually or automatically with the newly released ZEISS Atlas 5 Array Tomography platform on a Zeiss FEGSEM. To characterize different populations of immune cells, organelle inventories were created by segmenting individual cells. In addition, arrays were used for quantification of cell populations with respect to the various cell types they contained. The detection of immunological synapses in cocultures of cell populations from thymus or WKM with cancer cells helped to identify the cytotoxic nature of these cells. Our results demonstrate the practicality and benefit of AT for high-throughput ultrastructural imaging of substantial volumes. LAY DESCRIPTION: To look at immune cells from zebrafish we employed array tomography, a technique where arrays of serial sections deposited on solid substrates are used for imaging. Cell populations were isolated from the different organs of zebrafish involved in haematopoiesis, the production of blood cells. They were chemically fixed and centrifuged to concentrate them in a pellet that was then dehydrated and embedded in resin. Using a custom-built handling device it was possible to place hundreds of serial sections on silicon wafers as well ordered arrays. To image a whole cell at a resolution that would allow identifying all the organelles (i.e. compartments surrounded by membranes) inside the cell, stacks of usually 50–100 images were recorded in a scanning electron microscope (SEM). This recording was either done manually or automatically using the newly released Atlas Array Tomography platform on a ZEISS SEM. For the imaging of the sections a pixel size of about 5 nm was chosen, which defines membrane boundaries very well and allows segmentation of the membrane topology. After alignment of the images, cellular components were segmented to locate the individual organelles within the 3D reconstruction of the whole cell and also to create an inventory of organelles. Based on their morphologies we could identify specific cell types in the different hematopoietic organs. We could also quantify the proportion of each cell type in the whole population isolated from a given organ. Some of these specific cells from zebrafish were grown in a culture dish together with human cancer cells. By time-lapse light microscopy we observed that the fish cells attacked the cancer cells and killed them. From this we concluded that these cells must be similar to the cytotoxic cells from humans that play an important role in defence against spontaneously arising cancer cells in our bodies. They form special structures, called immunological synapses that we could also identify on our arrays and reconstruct in 3D. This is the first time the potential of zebrafish immune cells to form immunological synapses has been demonstrated. Our study is a good example for the practicality and benefit of array tomography in high-throughput ultrastructure imaging of substantial volumes, applicable to many areas of cell and developmental biology
DES13S2cmm: the first superluminous supernova from the Dark Energy Survey
We present DES13S2cmm, the first spectroscopically-confirmed superluminous
supernova (SLSN) from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). We briefly discuss the data
and search algorithm used to find this event in the first year of DES
operations, and outline the spectroscopic data obtained from the European
Southern Observatory (ESO) Very Large Telescope to confirm its redshift (z =
0.663 +/- 0.001 based on the host-galaxy emission lines) and likely spectral
type (type I). Using this redshift, we find M_U_peak = -21.05 +0.10 -0.09 for
the peak, rest-frame U-band absolute magnitude, and find DES13S2cmm to be
located in a faint, low metallicity (sub-solar), low stellar-mass host galaxy
(log(M/M_sun) = 9.3 +/- 0.3); consistent with what is seen for other SLSNe-I.
We compare the bolometric light curve of DES13S2cmm to fourteen similarly
well-observed SLSNe-I in the literature and find it possesses one of the
slowest declining tails (beyond +30 days rest frame past peak), and is the
faintest at peak. Moreover, we find the bolometric light curves of all SLSNe-I
studied herein possess a dispersion of only 0.2-0.3 magnitudes between +25 and
+30 days after peak (rest frame) depending on redshift range studied; this
could be important for 'standardising' such supernovae, as is done with the
more common type Ia. We fit the bolometric light curve of DES13S2cmm with two
competing models for SLSNe-I - the radioactive decay of 56Ni, and a magnetar -
and find that while the magnetar is formally a better fit, neither model
provides a compelling match to the data. Although we are unable to conclusively
differentiate between these two physical models for this particular SLSN-I,
further DES observations of more SLSNe-I should break this degeneracy,
especially if the light curves of SLSNe-I can be observed beyond 100 days in
the rest frame of the supernova.Comment: Accepted by MNRAS (2015 January 23), 13 pages, 6 figures, 2 table
Hypoxia-related microRNA-210 is a diagnostic marker for discriminating osteoblastoma and osteosarcoma
MTG6Molecular tumour pathology - and tumour genetic
Search for single production of a heavy vector-like T quark decaying to a Higgs boson and a top quark with a lepton and jets in the final state
Peer reviewe