Grey Fox Lung Cells with mEmerald-Actin and mRuby-Lysosomes
In the mid-twentieth century, the existence of lysosomes was first suggested by Christian de Duve. The Belgian scientist was carrying out research focusing on carbohydrate metabolism and noticed that liver cells placed in a centrifuge released more of the enzyme acid phosphatase when they underwent greater amounts of damage. De Duve believed that the occurrence must be due to the fact that the enzyme was normally housed in some sort of membrane-bound organelle and that damage from the centrifuge compromised the membrane integrity, allowing acid phosphatase to be released. He estimated the probable size of the organelle, which he termed the lysosome, and then was able to identify the microbody in cellular images generated by an electron microscope.
Actin has four main functions: To form microfilaments, to permit cell motility, to be the scaffold in muscle cells where myosin proteins create force to support muscle contraction, and in non-muscle cells, to be a path for cargo transport myosins (myosin V and VI). Actin's functions also include cell division and cytokinesis, cell signaling, vesicle and organelle movement, and the maintenance of cell shape and cell junctions. The featured fox lung cells expressing mEmerald are fused to actin and lysosomes are tagged with mRuby.