Neuropix

Microglia (teal) and astrocytes (magenta) independently detect injury-associated signals and converge at sites of tissue damage and neuroinflammation in the sheep hippocampus. Nuclei are shown in blue.

This is a neuron derived from a patient with Parkinson’s disease and how it looks in his disease stage, with pathological granules highlighted in red.

This is a stem cell derived neuronal graft in a rodent brain used to study Parkinson’s disease. Dopamine neurons are labelled in red and green.

This image shows neurons (labelled in green) that have been transplanted into a mouse brain, and the nuclei of cells are shown in blue.

This image shows a blue stain revealing the nuclei of mouse cells. The natural arrangement creates a striking wave-like pattern throughout the brain tissue.

This image shows microglia (labelled in teal), astrocytes (labelled in purple) and nuclei (labelled in blue) in the subfornical nucleus of the rat brain. The subfornical nucleus is densely packed, as can be seen. It is one of the rare brain regions lacking the protective blood brain barrier, exposing it directly to anything flowing through the blood. This image reminds me of the bioluminescent algae sometimes seen glowing at night on the ocean. Like waves breaking on the shore, signals from the blood inundate the subfornical nucleus, where they are processed before being transmitted to other brain regions.

This image shows a network of mature human brain cells grown from stem cells in the laboratory. Their long, branching extensions form an intricate web of connections, resembling constellations scattered across the night sky. Visualised using a fluorescent dye that responds to calcium, these extensions provide the pathways through which brain cells communicate.

Using stem cells grown in the laboratory, this image recreates one of the earliest stages of human cortical development. The cells spontaneously organise into neural rosettes, revealing the remarkable capacity of human stem cells to build the earliest blueprint of the developing cortex.

This image recreates an early stage of human cortical development using stem cells grown in the laboratory. As the cells organise themselves, newly formed neurons extend long, branching connections around clusters of developing brain cells, creating an intricate network. Fluorescent markers reveal this remarkable process of self-organisation, illustrating how the foundations of the cortex begin to take shape.

This image captures stem cells in the process of transforming into early brain cells, forming a structure known as a neural rosette. Grown on a specially designed surface, the cells arrange themselves into swirling, blooming patterns that resemble the structures seen in a developing embryo’s brain. Colour reveals different aspects of this process: green marks a protein that helps the cells stick together as they organise, red highlights cells on their way to becoming neurons, and blue marks each individual cell’s nucleus.

Microglia 3D remodelling. Sample imaged from brain tissue collected from a merino ewe (female sheep). This image shows microglia (Iba1 staining labelled in green), with the 3D model representing the cell soma (blue) and branches (purple).

Pictured here are oligodendrocytes (cells that produce myelin, the protective layer surrounding brain axons) labelled in green, with their nuclei shown in blue. Magenta denotes proliferating cells.

Pictured here are immature oligodendrocytes (cells that produce myelin, the protective layer surrounding brain axons) in orange, branching out between cell nuclei stained green. Blue denotes proliferating cells.

This image shows human stem cell-derived neurovascular assembloids – miniature, laboratory grown tissues designed to mimic parts of the brain’s vascular environment. Fluorescent labels reveal branching vessel-like networks in red and supporting cells in cyan as they organise throughout each spherical assembloid. These “mini-tissues” help us study how brain cells and blood vessels develop, communicate and respond to disease.

This image shows a human stem cell-derived model of the human brain. Different colours highlight the many cell types that form brain tissue and blood vessels. Their dense, intertwined networks highlight how closely brain cells and vascular cells grow together, communicate and support one another during development.

This image shows two human oligodendrocytes and their myelin sheaths (both stained in red and green) found within a lab-grown mini human brain.

This is an image of a lab-grown human mini-brain, in which we can see oligodendrocyte cell bodies (purple) as well as their projections (green and red).

This image shows a tumour infiltrating the mouse brain and disrupting the normal organisation of brain cells. As the tumour spreads, it can interfere with communication between neurons, which may contribute to problems with memory and other cognitive functions.

Is putting the brakes on protein production always bad? Not necessarily. These white dots are P-bodies, the cell’s emergency brakes, slowing protein production to conserve precious resources and act as bodyguards against oxidative stress.

This glowing sphere is a tiny, lab-grown model of the human blood-brain barrier, the protective shield that controls what enters the brain. Magenta cells are astrocytes (support cells), green are endothelial cells (that form blood-vessel walls), and red are pericytes (that help regulate the barrier). Together they self-assemble into a 3D “neurovascular galaxy,” letting scientists study how the brain’s defences work and how diseases or drugs might affect them, all without using animal tissue.

Angela Connelly, Research Assistant
This sheep forebrain image shows astrocytes in white, microglia in cyan and nuclei in yellow at 100x magnification.

Chau Tran, PhD student
This animation shows a single human neuron that survived 9 months in a mouse brain. Despite surviving, the cell developed signs of motor neurone disease, shown as abundant puncta inside it.

Patricia Wongsodirdjo, PhD student
This image shows human brain cancer cells which are used in our research to test cures for dementia. The cells are labelled in bright blue.

Andrew Quattrocchi, PhD student
Cells have dynamic tiny machinery inside of them that allow them to function. Here we can see the mitochondria and lysosomes, the energy and recycling centers of a cell.

Andrew Quattrocchi, PhD student
This image shows functional vessels inside a mini brain in the dish. Our ability to model the human brain is now becoming more advanced with next generation stem cell technology.

James Spyrou, PhD student
This animation shows an interneuron’s 3D structure (labelled in pink), moving up and down, illustrating what it might look like for signals to move to and from its centre.

Montanna Waters, PhD student
This image shows stem cells that have become neural progenitor cells. The cells are grown in micro-wells, creating a uniform layout that makes them appear like planets floating in space.

Montanna Waters, PhD student
This image shows stem cells that have become neural progenitor cells. The green staining highlights N-cadherin, a protein that helps cells stick together, the red staining indicates which cells are early brain cells, while the blue staining marks the nuclei of the cells.

Angela Connelly, Research Assistant
This sheep forebrain image shows astrocytes in yellow, microglia in cyan and nuclei in magenta at 100x magnification.

Chau Tran, PhD student
A 3D animation shows a human lower motor neuron. Human nuclei is labelled in blue.

Xiaoyu Wang, PhD student
Glioma cell (labelled in green) infiltrated brain. The ‘islands’ are seen on the edge of the glioma tumour mass. Brain cells are labelled in blue.

Chau Tran, PhD student
This image shows astrocyte (turquoise). Lipofuscin, pigment granules composed of lipid-containing residues, are labelled in pink. Cell nuclei are marked in yellow.

Raoul Das, PhD student
Mitochondria (in red) of neurons and the immune protein Gasdermin-E (in green).

Dushana Alagiyawanna, MPhil student
Autophagy (labelled in green by the key autophagy gene, Atg7), astrocytes (labelled in red by GFAP). Nuclei are labelled in blue.

Samaneh Mirzaei (PhD), Research Fellow
TDP-43 proteinopathy (in red) in hippocampus and neurons in green.

James Spyrou, PhD student
Genetically engineered neurons (labelled in green), with the entire branches and structure of a specific neuron (labelled in red). Brain cells are labelled blue.

Francois Beau, PhD student
Transplanted human myelin (green) wrapping around genetically modified brain axons.

Andrew Quattrocchi, PhD student
Formation of brain-like systems 24 hours after formation from stem cells. The different colours show the different populations of cell types necessary for life.

Aida Viden, PhD student
The bridge between nerve cells (orange) and muscle (green), the integral connections that enable us to move our muscles and bodies.

Lena Kricalussy-Hrabár, PhD student
Pyramidal neurons in the cortex labelled with green fluorescent protein. These cells are one of the main cell types in our brain. All cell bodies are labelled in blue to provide a background reference.

Pamela Kairath (PhD), Research Fellow

Brain organoids neurons, VGlut1, vglumate transporter 1 in pink, nuclei in blue and tubulin β3 in yellow.

Lijun Loh, PhD student

Motor neurons in green and neurofilaments in red.

Nirma Perera (PhD), Senior Research Officer

MND patient stem cell-derived organoid shows red nerve cells, blue nuclei and green autophagy protein.

Alexandra Fraser, MPhil student

Stress marker c-fos in green and nuclei (blue) in a brain exposed to Porsolt test.

Francois-Xavier Beau, PhD student

Human lab-grown ‘mini-brain’. Oligodendrocytes (immature in green and mature in orange) can be seen doing their own thing (myelin in red), nuclei in blue.

Azin Amin (PhD), Research Fellow

The successful journey of drugs conjugated to a novel peptide (magenta) as they traverse the blood-brain barrier, escaping blood vessels (green) to reach the neurons (red) within the brain. Astrocytes in yellow and nuclei blue.

Hannah Truong (PhD), Postdoctoral Research Officer

Live adult C.elegans worms fed with GFP tagged Ferritin (FTN-2:GFP) and mounted onto glass slide. Head and body image was captured by SP8 confocal microscope equipped with 20x optical lens.

Katherine (Katie) Lewis, PhD student

Oligodendroglia are the myelinating cells and are essential for maintaining brain health. Nuclei (blue), PDGFR⍺ (green; stains for oligodendrocyte precursor cells), EdU (magenta; marks cell proliferation).