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New Wave
11 April 2015

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

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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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