Featured image with Aswathy G Krishnan

Our featured image, acquired by Aswathy G Krishnan, depicts a neural rosette of a cerebral organoid derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC). The organoids were collected, fixed, dehydrated, embedded in tissue freezing media and cryosectioned at 20 µm thickness. Then, the sections were immunolabelled and imaged under confocal microscope at 60X magnification. The images were processed in Fiji software. The neural rosette of the cerebral organoid mimics the early stages of the developing neural tube in an embryo, and it is labelled for the neural progenitor cell marker, Nestin (Neural stem cell protein) in green and nucleus DAPI, in blue. It recapitulates neural tube by the characteristic radial arrangement of cells in a central lumen.   

Research career so far: I am currently a Senior Project Associate at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Tirupati, India with Dr. Pavithra L Chavali. After my Master’s degree in Biochemistry from Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, India, I joined the ‘Organoid Models for Biomedical Research Applications’ project as a Project Associate, at CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB), Hyderabad, India with Dr. Vegesna Radha and Dr. Pavithra L Chavali. My journey is guided by the fusion of knowledge in stem cell biology and neuroscience.  I worked on iPSC reprogramming from patient-derived cells and in different organoid systems, such as brain, liver and intestine, to study different aspects of disease and development. In particular, my fascination lies in the realm of human brain development, with a specialised focus on harnessing the potential of brain organoid technology.

Current research: Our lab is studying neurodevelopmentally important proteins, in particular microcephaly proteins implicated in autosomal recessive primary microcephaly (MCPH). Currently, I am working on a protein called WDR62, which is an important neurodevelopmental protein. My aim is to elucidate the role of WDR62 in neurodevelopment and glioblastoma using cerebral organoids as a model system. WDR62 knockout organoids mimicking the small brain phenotype help us to study the molecular aspects of microcephaly. We are also studying the invasive behaviour of glioblastoma in these organoids.

Favourite imaging technique/microscope: With the passion of exploration, I find its perfect match in the art of confocal microscopy where I can delve into the dynamic landscape of the cell. My favourite microscope is Olympus FV 3000, which I used to capture these images of organoid in Advanced Microscopy and Imaging Facility (AMIF) at CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology.

What are you most excited about in microscopy: I am excited about the application of tissue clearing techniques combined with confocal microscopy to enable the high-resolution visualization of complex structure and wiring of the 3D organoid. I am also looking forward to the application of microCT in organoid research, due to its ability to provide detailed insights into the architecture, structure and even the internal composition of the organoid.

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