Tissue: A Symphony
of Cells

In 1858, German anatomist Joseph von Gerlach soaked a few pieces of brain tissue overnight in a puddle of staining solution derived from insects. By morning, the stain had neatly outlined many of the microscopic features of the tissue, and thus began the scientific discipline of histology. With the aid of dyes, fluorescent stains, and better microscopes, researchers began to see a fascinating pattern. The body's trillions of cells eventually organized themselves into just one of four fundamental tissue types: muscle, nervous, connective, and epithelial.

  • The Nance Lab
  • The Yang Lab
  • The Parasoglou Lab
  • The Nance Lab
  • The Yang Lab
  • The Parasoglou Lab
This confocal microscopy image of a C. elegans embryo shows the three cell types needed to make the gonad, or reproductive gland. A gonadal support cell (yellow) wraps around the germ cell (magenta), which will give rise to egg or sperm. Both of these cells are held in place by intestinal cells (cyan). Each cell type has been illuminated via a differently colored fluorescent protein.
Jeremy F. Nance, PhD
Associate professor of cell biology at the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine at NYU Langone
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Shown above is an image of active dendrites, or the information-receiving extensions of neurons, aglow in the primary motor cortex of a mouse running on a treadmill. In this time-lapse, the imaging system has successively illuminated individual dendrites, shown in blue, green, and red.
Guang Yang, PhD
Assistant professor of anesthesiology at NYU Langone
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Prodromos Parasoglou has collaborated with colleagues like Ryan Brown, PhD, Assistant Professor of Radiology, to build and operate imaging devices such as a phosphorous/proton coil to image muscles of the lower leg (shown here with a water-filled head used to demonstrate a related brain-imaging technique).
Prodromos Parasoglou, PhD
Assistant professor of radiology at NYU Langone
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