The Cellular Pathways of a Zebrafish Eye

What am I looking at?

This is an image of the network formed by microtubules within the cells that make up the lens in the eye of a zebrafish embryo, plus its surrounding tissues. The microtubules shine green in this image, and the density of the microtubules is indicated by the intensity of the green coloring. Darker green indicates low-density areas (1) and lighter green/white indicates high-density areas (2).

Biology in the background

The eye, like all other organs in the body, is composed of cells. Microtubules are structures that help maintain cells’ infrastructure and shape; they are made from multiple subunits of alpha and beta tubulin. They are involved in cell motility and division, and they also function as pathways that allow a variety of cellular components to be transported throughout a cell’s interior. Studying how these microtubules form, organize, and change during development can provide researchers with valuable insights into the structure and function of our cells and organs.

The eye of an adult zebrafish is about 2.3 millimeters across, or roughly nine times smaller than your thumbnail. Microtubules, however, are much smaller – about 25 nanometers across, or roughly 3,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair.

Technique

This image was created using confocal microscopy.