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Septic Signals
16 September 2016

Septic Signals

Getting an injury is bad enough, but if the wound becomes infected and turns septic then the consequences can be serious or even fatal. If that happens, the immune system needs to kick into action to fight the infection and promote healing. This image shows fruit fly guts that have been genetically engineered to ‘light up’ with a green fluorescent protein when a certain molecular pathway involved in immunity (called JAK/STAT) is switched on. The top gut is healthy and undamaged, while the middle one has sustained a clean injury and the bottom one has an infected wound. It turns out that specialised blood cells in the flies, known as haemocytes, are responsible for activating these JAK/STAT signals when they sense damage and infection in the area. As well as stimulating an anti-infection response, the signals also activate stem cells to create new gut cells and patch up the damage.

Written by Kat Arney

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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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