Neurons in Development

What am I looking at?

This image shows a few developing neurons isolated from a mouse. The nuclei of the cells are visible in yellow (1). The cytoskeleton is visible in light blue (2). The growth cones surrounding the growing ends of the neurons are visible in purple (3).

Biology in the background

Some adult neurons have projections that are amazingly long – thousands of times the length of their cell bodies in some cases. This means that during development, the growing cells need to be able to find their targets a long distance away. They do this using specialized structures called growth cones. The growth cones aid in the extension of the neuron’s axon. They also detect chemicals in the surrounding environment that help guide the neurons’ projections to the appropriate targets.

In mice, these growth cones can be up to 50 micrometers across, or roughly two-thirds the width of a human hair.

Technique  

This image was created using confocal microscopy.