Mitochondria in human mammary cells

Mitochondria are commonly understood to be the powerhouses for cells. In the mammary gland they are crucial for providing energy needed to produce milk. These minute structures within each cell change in response to stimuli such as hormones. Our team study these hormones and mitochondria in order to understand how each support the production of energy essential for the complex process of lactation.  

This incredible image of mitochondria in a mammary cell was taken using super-resolution confocal microscopy. Our researchers inject fluorescent dyes into the cells in order to make the different components visible. This labelling was done using two different methods: introducing a fluorescently labelled mitochondrial protein (red); and antibody staining of a mitochondrial protein (green). Cell nuclei were labelled with a fluorescent dye (blue).