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Nuclear twins
Captured by EMBL postdoc Arina Rybina, these ‘nuclear twins’ are two daughter nuclei straight after division of a HeLa cell.
The bright spots at the nuclear periphery and surrounding areas are newly formed structures called nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) – molecular machines that serve as transport channels between the nucleus and the cytoplasm outside it. The white colour is a result of a spectral overlay from two fluorescently labelled NPC proteins (Pom121-mCherry in magenta and Nup107-mEGFP in green).
This image was taken using a high-resolution fluorescence confocal microscope at EMBL Heidelberg. This microscope helps scientists to detect structures inside living cells with high sensitivity and spatial resolution.
As part of her work in the Ellenberg group, Arina aims to visualise in 3D the formation of individual NPCs during cell division, with the goal of observing various states of NPC assembly and understanding more about how the assembly process happens.
Credit: Arina Rybina/EMBL
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