Tent Pole Patrol

A cutting-edge microscope technique has shown in exquisite detail that the immune cells which patrol our bodies have miniature, tent-like structures on their surface. Slung between the tent poles are membranes that allow the moving cells, called macrophages, to gulp in fluid. Each gulp is sampled for possible sources of infection and, if any sign of bacteria, virus or cancer is detected, the macrophage triggers an immune response. The macrophages in this video have been exposed to a molecule commonly found on bacteria. Their activity was recorded with lattice light-sheet microscopy, which uses a laser to acquire 3D images with great speed and precision, while causing minimal damage to the cells. This advanced technique could revolutionise our understanding of cell behaviour. Already, it’s known that cancer cells use tent poles to engulf nutrients to sustain their growth. Targeting the tents with drugs could help to block cancer cell survival.

Written by Deborah Oakley

Deborah Oakley

Writer

Deborah is researching healthy cognitive ageing at the University of Cambridge. She previously worked as a science communicator in London, working closely with the BPoD team.

• Video from work by Nicholas D. Condon and colleagues, University of Queensland
• Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) and IMB Centre for Inflammation and Disease Research, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
• Video/image copyright held by the original authors, published in JCB under a Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike–No Mirror Sites license
• Published in Journal of Cell Biology, August 2018