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Tissue Rendezvous
13 September 2012

Tissue Rendezvous

Like marines called in to regain control of occupied territory, T-cells zip along in the blood stream to areas of stress in a body’s tissues. Here we see a teardrop-shaped slice through part of a mouse brain with a disease similar to multiple sclerosis. The nuclei of these brain cells are artificially stained blue, while a red stain marks the outside edge of the tissue. T-cells travel to the diseased brain tissue via the blood vessel (seen in the centre of the slice, stained yellow). ‘Landing beacon’ chemicals called ligands at the vessel’s edge are recognised by the T-cells’ hook-like adhesion molecules. Once attached, the T-cells penetrate into the tissue. Researchers believe that in this particular disease these T-cells could in fact be making matters worse. Blocking their entry to the blood vessel could be a way of slowing the tissue damage.

Written by John Ankers

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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.

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