Mouse Brain Tissue - 20µm - 40x
This digital image is a reconstruction of a mouse brain tissue sample that was labeled for histones (blue fluorescence), neurofilaments (green), and GFAP (red) with Alexa Fluor probes. Histones are a group of strongly alkaline proteins found in eukaryotic cell nuclei that are involved in the regulation of genes, physical and functional changes in chromatin during mitosis, and DNA transcription. Neurofilaments, which are intermediate filaments specific to neurons, however, are generally believed to chiefly play a structural role, though some research indicates they may also contribute functionally to the intracellular transport of metabolites. GFAP, or glial fibrillary acidic protein, is a type III intermediate filament protein that plays an important structural role in the star-shaped glial cells called astrocytes as well as some ependymal cells.