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Decision Time
15 June 2016

Decision Time

Our cells respond to thousands of signals from their surroundings every day – they must get this right or risk becoming diseased. Fatal conditions like cancer often begin with the faulty responses of a single cell. So how do cells cope when they receive signals marked 'top priority' but are already doing so much? These cancer cells might have the answer. Researchers found that a protein involved in cell division, E2F-1 (fluorescently-labelled green here), and a protein that responds to environmental signals, NF-kappaB (red), meet to 'decide' which process takes priority. This fleeting interaction may control how cells 'choose' to divide (like those rounding into balls here) or to respond to the outside world. Many cancers and autoimmune diseases are triggered by damage to E2F-1 or NF-kappaB. This microscopic meeting could explain how important processes are prioritised in healthy cells and how they might be influenced to avoid bad, cancerous decisions.

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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