Neuron Astrocyte Co-culture

Neuron Astrocyte Co-culture, 2016 – SOLD

Framed – 12″ x 12″

This was my very first piece.  It is based on my graduate studies, where I had to co-culture two types of cells directly derived from rat brains.  The green cells are neurons – they  have short dendrites that receive signals and long slender axons that send the information further.  The red cells are astrocytes, which are large glial cells.  In the past, neuron culturing conditions were not optimized enough for the cells to survive on their own.  Hence, they needed to be co-cultured with astrocytes that secreted specialized factors to create a more favorable environment.