A Web Atlas of Cellular Structures Using Light and Confocal Microscopy

This web site displays a series of light and confocal micrographs illustrating a variety of subcellular structures and organelles. We hope to provide a useful educational resource for people interested in cytology who do not have access to advanced imaging technologies or cell biological expertise.

We have employed a cultured epithelial cell line, CV1-monkey kidney cells, for these experiments and stained for such organelles as the Golgi apparatus, the endoplasmic reticulum, nucleus, mitochondria, and several cytoskeletal elements. Protocols for each staining as well as a description of the microscopes utilized are provided.

Confocal and fluorescent microscopy images help to reveal the intriguing structures of the cell. We hope also to demonstrate the high quality imaging techniques available for such visualization. This project has been made possible with the support of the Beckman Institute of Advanced Science and Technology's Imaging Technology Group at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.

Additional Resources

ITG Forums on the Web Atlas of Cellular Structures:

• A Web Atlas of Cellular Structures Using Light and Confocal Microscopy, 20 August 1998

ITG Technical Reports:

• Cell Biological Applications of Fluorescence Microscopy, ITG 99-006

Web atlas in the news:

• "Cells Afire" in NetWatch column in SCIENCE, Vol. 287, 10 March 2000

University of Illinois:

• The College of Medicine, University of Illinois, has a Histology Course Home Page, complete with their own Internet Atlas of Histology. An interactive atlas using Java technology to navigate the images, the developers recommend using a PC with 64MB of RAM and Netscape Navigator 4.0+ for best viewing, though a G3 Macintosh computer running MacOS 8.6 has been tested as well. Certain portions of the Histology Course Home Page are restricted to medical students at the UIUC.