Scientists Observe Live Human Cells Communicating For the First Time

Tuesday, October 13, 2009 - 16:42 in Biology & Nature

The basis of a human body's cells' ability to communicate with one another is the vesicle. That little ball packed with biological material is the medium through which all of our billions of cells coordinate with each other to keep our conscious stable and our bodies responsive. However, despite that importance, high resolution live imagery of cell and vesicle interaction has remained elusive. Now, scientists from the University of Copenhagen have succeeded producing the first hi-res live recording of the interaction. In the nearer term, this development could greatly assist the study of diseases, like schizophrenia and Huntington's, that result from vesicle-cell interaction failure. To record the union of cell and vesicle, the researchers created vesicles and cell membranes with half of a fluorescent compound. When the two fused together, the fluorescent compound became complete, emitting light. Sensors detected the light, and a computer analyzed...

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