Now in our 13th year of bringing you beautiful imagery from biomedical science every day

Search the archive of over 4000 images

Flicking the Switch
21 October 2012

Flicking the Switch

An amazing transformation is taking place – the cells pictured with blobs stained bright green are changing from stem cells into highly specialised brain cells called BMECs. BMECs line the tiniest blood vessels to make the blood-brain barrier, which controls the movement of molecules into and out of the brain. This layer of tightly packed cells also restricts the movement of drugs into the brain making it difficult to develop effective treatments for diseases like Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis. The green glow seen here in the cells indicates that a protein signalling molecule is switching on certain genes in the nucleus. Researchers found that, within a few days, these lab-grown cells had authentic BMEC characteristics making them a useful model of the blood-brain barrier. It’s hoped that using this model will speed up the development of drugs that can breach this cellular stronghold.

Written by Sarah McLusky

Search The Archive

Submit An Image

Follow on Tumblr

Follow on Instagram

What is BPoD?

BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

Read More

BPoD is also available in Catalan at www.bpod.cat with translations by the University of Valencia.