Immunofluorescence of mice liver sections with nuclei (blue) and zonal markers E-cadherin (periportal, yellow) and glutamine synthetase (pericentral, red). The liver helps maintain metabolic processes, hormone production, nutrient storage, and detoxification. This happens when the oxygen and nutrient-rich blood flow from the periportal vein to the pericentral vein in the liver lobule, the functional unit of liver.  As a result, the blood flow creates a gradient of oxygen, nutrients and signaling molecules, creating three different zones in the liver lobule. These zones have different functions, and they express different proteins depending on their functions. Here, we have used Glutamine synthetase (red) to view the pericentral zone and E-cadherin (yellow) for the periportal zone to study the zonation.

The proteins we evaluated in this embryo are GATA6 (green), CDX2 (red) and OCT4 (yellow). DAPI is shown in blue.

This embryo is part of a study to identify the effects of DEHP, which is a plasticizer whose chemical structure closely resembles hormones and is believed to be an endocrine disruptor. Previous studies have shown that it affects embryo development and implantation in the uterus. These proteins are important in cell differentiation to give rise to different organs in future stages. For this reason we want to evaluate its expression in the presence of DEHP and to understand the mechanism of its effect on embryo development and embryo implantation.

Image taken on LSM880.

Liver organoid after differentiation in a triangular microwell. Varying organoid shape changes mechanical cues and can influence liver cell fate and patterning. The red stain is HNF4a, a hepatocyte marker, green is OPN, a biliary cell marker, and blue is DAPI, a nuclear DNA stain. Images were taken with the LSM 700.

A plantaris muscle stained for individual fiber types. Fibers are "outlined" in green (stained for dystrophin). While the individual fibers are stained based on myosin heavy chain. Type IIa is red, IIx is black, and IIb is blue. 

Instrument used: Axioscan

This image showcases the hippocampal region in a mouse brain slice, highlighting DAPI in blue, NeuN in green, and YAP in red using immunofluorescence. The objective of this research project is to investigate the impact of physical exercise on neurogenesis in the hippocampus. The images were captured using the Zeiss LSM 700 confocal microscope at the Core Facilities of the Carle R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology.