New Wave

Inside these developing mouse paws, known as autopods, is a delicate balance between life and death. Blood vessels (highlighted in green) supply nutrients necessary for the autopods to grow, but they also carry a destructive cargo of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The explosive ROS trigger programmed cell death (PCD) in the soft tissue between the digits, teasing out the paw-like shape – a bit like cutting out a hand print from a piece of paper or breaking away the support material from a 3D-printed model. Over two days, the pattern of blood vessels changes as the mouse digits are revealed, from youngest autopod with an intricate blood vessel network (top left) to the mature autopod with a defined paw shape (bottom right). Investigating the relationship between blood vessel patterning and PCD may inspire new ways in which limb development can be monitored, and even corrected, during early human life.

Written by John Ankers

John Ankers

Writer

A former researcher in systems biology, John is now an online biology tutor and professional coach supporting the wellbeing of scientists and NHS professionals. He's writing, too, of course.

Website

• Adapted from image by Elazar Zelzer and colleagues
• Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
• Copyright held by The Company of Biologists
• Research published in Development, February 2015