Glass Art in Uni Visitor Centre

2015

There are three fused glass pieces on display at the Unviersity Visitor Centre on Potterow. They are based on fluorescence microscopy by the Schirmer Lab, Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology, University of Edinburgh.

Fluorescent stains are used to highlight proteins of interest.

The red / pink areas are the most interesting to this research. They show a protein (KLHL-31 normally associated with the nuclear envelope) that appears to be involved in cell division. Mutations in nuclear envelope proteins cause a range of diseases, such muscular dystrophies, and neuropathies.

DNA is stained blue, and the blue areas are the nucleus of the cell.

Tubulin / microtubules are stained red/orange. These proteins form the underlying structure or ‘skeleton’ of the cell.

Actin is stained green, actin is a protein involved in cell movement.

Dividing human cells under a fluorescence microscope.

09/04/2015

There is an exhibition of our fused glass in the University of Edinburgh Visitor centre for Spring 2015

The work was created by Bethany Harker, Laura Reed and Sarah Keer-Keer

1. Showing normal cell division stages in mitosis.
Bethany Harker, Researcher, Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology

2. Showing two daughter cells attempting to separate/divide, this stage is called scission. In this sample, many cells where found in stuck or delayed in this stage and the pink protein appears to interfering with cell separation. This type of defect is relevant to understanding cancer. Cells failing to separate may lead to multipolar spindle as seen in piece 3.
Sarah Keer-Keer, Public Engagement, Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology

3. Showing several resting cells and a central dividing cell with a multipolar spindle. This is a defect, each cell should have only two spindles during division, but this cell has four. This type of defect is common in cancer and so this protein is of interest in the understanding of cancer. The pink protein appears to be holding sister chromatids together.
Laura Reed, Glass artist, Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology

Both pieces 2 and 3 tell us that the pink protein KLHL-31 is associated with problems with cell division and therefore maybe cancer. Other studies have shown this protein can be associated with uterine tumours.

Blown glass histone and DNA (nucleosome)

Showing a strand of DNA wrapped twice around a histone to create a nucleosome. DNA is stored wrapped along a string of many histones like this one. The DNA is partly controlled by the histone, which can keep it locked up and unavailable when it was been modified by other chemicals.
By Ingrid Philips, Clare Wilson, Sarah Keer-Keer and Laura Reed, Edinburgh College of Art and Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology

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