Nicolle R. Fuller's profile

Inside the Body: Health, Disease, Cancer

Digital Art
Intestinal Microbiome: An artistic look deep within our intestine where a thriving ecosystem of microbes lives nestled in the cells' villi. Contrary to what one might think, these microbes are beneficial to us and help us digest our food. Otherwise, many nutrients would be indigestible. 
Cancer Metastasis: A primary tumor within the colon metastasizing. During metastasis, tumor cells produce proteins, called proteases, which helps degrade the tissue around them. At the same time, the tumor cells stop producing the proteins that normally keeps them tightly connected and contained. These processes allow the tumor cell to infect distant sites through intravasation.
Flow Detection by Kidney Cells: Kidney cells have a projection called a cilium which acts as a mechanical sensor to detect flow. Problems with the cilium have been implicated in diseases like polycystic kidney disorder.
Therapeutic antibodies (the Y-like structures) can work to help fight off growth factors which fuel cancer cell growth.
A tumor attracts blood and lymphatic vessels (known as angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis, respectively) in order to consume more nutrients to continue its rapid growth.
Cancer recruits new blood vessel growth to feed the expanding tumor in a process called angiogenesis. Scientists are working on drugs to prune back the blood vessels, helping other drugs find a more direct route to the tumor. 
Inside the Body: Health, Disease, Cancer
Published:

Inside the Body: Health, Disease, Cancer

Artwork of microbes in our gut, cancer cells migrating from the tumor and flow detection by kidney cells.

Published: