Glioblastoma cells showing endocytosis

Glioblastoma cells in culture transfected with green fluorescent protein. The nuclei are stained blue with DAPI. The red spots are 0.02 micron fluorescent spheres that have been taken up into the cells by the process of endocytosis. These cells have no endogenous Pten protein. Pten is a tumour suppressor gene and is mutated in many different types of cancer, causing loss of function. It is thought that the absence of Pten protein increases cell mobility possibly contributing to metastasis of the cancer. Biomedical Image Awards 2002.