Watching cells in their own light
The pictures below and the time lapse animation show the response of quiescent
cells to stimulation with serum growth factors. Initially the cells
are invisible but begin to appear as they start expressing the firefly
luciferase gene, which was introduced into the cells under the control
of a human gene promoter. During the 24h time course the cells can
be seen to migrate extensively, to interact and even to divide. This
system therefore allows the observation of cell motility and, to some extent,
morphological changes in conjunction with direct measurements of reporter
gene expression in individual living cells.
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Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells
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Firefly luciferase gene (pGL3-based)
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Human c-fos promoter (-711 - +1)
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Zeiss Axiovert S100 TV microscope
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CCD camera with Photek intensifier
Download
a movie of the above animation for viewing on your desktop (AVI format;
Macs use QuickTime 3)
Images by Matthew Griffiths, web page by Mike Gardner
28.1.99
