A quantitative cell biologist who studies how force-generating cytoskeletal systems organize biological function across scales. Married to @gillianhoo.
Nashville, TN
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I am excited to finally be able to share with you our work reporting the first Extracellular Vesicle with a personality! This video does not show a cell, it is a Blebbisome! #CellBiology
nature.com/articles/s41556-0…
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While we do not study apoptotic bodies in my lab, they are pretty cool! This cell expressing a membrane marker was videoed through a microscope while it was dying by @EmmaKoory. The video captured just the bottom of the cell. The cell rounds up as dying cells tend to do (i.e., it disappears from the region being imaged). Then apoptotic bodies come down and do cool stuff! In case you were wondering...... Yes, I am known internationally for my use of precise scientific language like "cool stuff" :-) #CellBiology
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Cellular blebbiing and blebbisome formation are indeed different. Blebbisomes form from a large retraction fiber being detached from a migrating cell. It can be confusing as I came up with the named "blebbisome" because they often have membrane blebs themselves.
In contrast, It is thought that a membrane bleb can also detach from a cell to create another large extracellular vesicle called a "microvesicle". This type of extracellular vesicle has been given multiple names over the years.
Whether or not a blebbisome can form its own microvesicles has not been published. Spoiler alert: it can. #CellBiology
I see that frequently, would you consider blebbing and blebbisome formation different? any insight to its cellular significance?
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Four cancer cells displaying continuous membrane blebbing videoed through a DIC microscope. No, these cells are not dying. #CellBiology
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A cell dividing into two new daughter cells photographed through a microscope. #CellBiology
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Pictures of two insects acquired with microscopes hundreds of years apart. One was hand drawn and one was photographed using a digital camera. Can you tell which one is which?
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A cell photographed through a microscope. DNA in the nucleus (purples), the Golgi apparatus (greens), and the actin filament cytoskeleton (oranges) are shown. #CellBiology
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The mouth of a sand dollar photographed through a microscope. Not a mouth you say? OK. Peristomial aperture if you want to be fancy about it. #CellBiology
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DNA in the nuclei of cancer cells videoed through a spinning disk confocal microscope. The first cell going through cell division got the assignment: one nucleus becomes two nuclei. The second cell, not so much. #CellBiology
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A single cell photographed through a microscope. DNA in the nucleus (cyan), mitochondria (yellow), and actin filaments (magenta) are shown. #CellBiology
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The powerhouses/overlords of the cell, mitochondria, photographed through a microscope. It’s just one cell. Well, just part of one cell—the perinuclear region. #CellBiology
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Three cells photographed through a microscope. DNA in the nucleus (blue), mitochondria (green), and actin filaments (red) are shown. #CellBiology
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A neuronal growth cone extending from a neuron taken from a sea slug (yes a sea slug is exactly what it sounds like) photographed through a microscope. Actin filaments and microtubules are shown. #CellBiology
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Neurons in a developing zebrafish embryo videoed through a microscope. If you look closely at the bottom, you can see neuronal growth cones racing along pre-existing axon tracks. #CellBiology
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Cells in a zebrafish embryo videoed through a microscope. There are neurons, immune cells, and muscle cells among others. Two cells die. Can you find them? Video length: 6.5 hours. #CellBiology
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My 1st Nikon Small World Reject of 2026 :-)
A heart muscle cell photographed through a microscope. Alpha actinin 2 and beta myosin II are shown. #CellBiology
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Roommates videoed through a microscope. These little swimmers are ciliates, single-celled eukaryotes grazing on bacteria alongside our zebrafish. #CellBiology
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Blood cells flowing next to a developing spinal cord in a zebrafish embryo videoed through a microscope. #CellBiology
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A neuronal growth cone photographed through a microscope. Microtubules and actin filaments are shown. Technique: DIC and widefield fluorescence microscopy. #CellBiology
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A cell videoed through a DIC microscope. The nucleus spins around. Why would it do that? #CellBiology
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