Art and science collide
The world of heart and circulatory diseases seen in images
At the BHF, we’re funding researchers across the UK who are working to discover and develop new and better ways to prevent, diagnose and treat a wealth of heart and circulatory diseases. Every year we invite them to enter their most captivating science images into our ‘Reflections of Research’ competition.
This year’s winner, A Sea of Cells was created by Iona Cuthbertson, a PhD student at the University of Cambridge. What could be mistaken for the thick brushstrokes of a Vincent van Gogh painting bringing to life an ocean bloom, is in fact a close-up of smooth muscle cells that surround the blood vessels in mice.
“Through the skill and imagination of the scientists involved, all of the shortlisted images reveal to us in new ways remarkable processes of life. The winning image succeeds in portraying a turbulent drama happening at a cellular scale.”John O’Shea, Guest judge and Head of Programming at Science Gallery London, King’s College London
The smooth muscle cells, which are partly responsible for the control of blood flow by narrowing or widening blood vessels, are marked with differently coloured fluorescent proteins. Tracking the ebb and flow of different proteins in the cells over time can tell scientists about their origins and ability to divide, and help them to understand how the smooth muscle in blood vessels grows.
Iona is exploring the ways in which rare types of smooth muscle cells in the walls of arteries rapidly grow after injury. She’s investigating what the rapid growth means in relation to conditions such as atherosclerosis, where there’s a build-up of fatty substances inside arteries — a condition associated with increased stroke and heart attack risk.
A close second: The judge’s runner-up
The Forming Heart which came from Dr Richard Tyser at the University of Oxford was chosen as this year’s second most impressive image.
What looks like the birth of a new star within a dust cloud is the heart in a developing mouse embryo. In red are the heart cells and in grey are the cells which make up the rest of the mouse embryo. During early development, the heart initially forms this crescent-like shape and it starts to beat.
Our supporters’ favourite
None of this life-saving research would be possible without donations from our generous supporters. That’s why, each year, we put a call out on our Facebook page asking you to take part, and vote for your favourite image.
The image that won the hearts and minds of our supporters was a team effort from Cheryl Tan and colleagues at the University of Oxford.
This image reflects the complex interaction between the heart and the brain, portraying some of the different imaging techniques that they use to investigate this relationship. These include magnetic resonance imaging of the heart and brain, ultrasound imaging of the heart, and fluorescent imaging of the heart and blood vessels.
Our highly commended shortlist
Every year we receive an incredible selection of entries. From delving into the blood vessels of the brain, to seeing cells wrapped up in algae, we celebrate all the images that made it onto our shortlist.
Rush of blood to the head
This image that could be mistaken for a high voltage electricity bolts actually shows the complex network of blood vessels in the mouse brain.
Many of the blood vessels seen in this image are thinner than a strand of hair and damage to them can lead to diseases like vascular dementia, and could be caused by diabetes.
Cutting-off life support to the heart
This image shows the blood vessel network in a mouse heart during the early stages after a heart attack. You can see the network of vessels that comes to an abrupt stop at the edge of the injured heart muscle (left to right). A functional blood vessel network is critical to keep the heart muscle alive, through delivery of oxygen and essential nutrients, so the heart can continue to beat properly.
Halo in the heart
This is a scan of the heart viewed from below. The bright ‘button’ in the middle of the heart is a metal valve to replace someone’s natural heart valve which isn’t working normally. The ‘halo’ represents an area of high activity which suggests the new metal valve is infected.
A blossom pericyte
This image shows a particular cell called pericytes, which surround and support our blood vessels to make them stronger. The blossoming red flower is made by peculiar pericytes, and the filaments you can see are specialised contractile fibres. These allow the contraction of blood vessels, helping to pump the blood in the heart. The circles in the background are pericytes that do not contain the specialized contractile fibres.
Life-altering algae
Here you can see human monocytes, a type of white blood cell, that have been encapsulated in brown algae. Injecting these capsules in the legs of people with severely limited blood flow may have the potential to promote new blood vessel formation and restore blood flow to the damaged areas. This algae-based treatment could reduce the need of leg amputations in people with critical limb ischaemia.
Blood-brain barrier rainbow
This colour explosion represents different cells of the cerebellum within the mouse brain, the part of the brain that coordinates voluntary movements like speech, balance and posture. Astrocytes (green) are cells responsible for the relationship between neurons and blood vessels. TSPO (red) is a protein associated with steroid production, and they both appear to be located at the blood vessels (yellow). This image suggests that TSPO might be involved in blood-brain barrier regulation, which is what prevents unwanted substances from entering the brain.
United colours of myocytes
This image shows human heart muscle cells derived from stem cells. The different colours show a different phase of a cell’s life-cycle. This colourful system is used to develop new treatments that can help the heart to renew itself after damage, such as the injury caused following a heart attack.
Nature’s bricks and mortar
Here we delve into the inside structure of a blood clot. Blood clots contract, compressing red blood cells into complex shapes forcing a protein called fibrin (yellow) into the gaps between them. This creates an impermeable clot, perfect for preventing bleeding. But many cardiovascular diseases, like heart attacks and strokes are caused by the formation of obstructive blood clots in inconvenient places.
More than just pretty pictures
Simon Gillespie, our Chief Executive, and one of the judges of this year’s competition shared his thoughts:
“Science and art are two different ways of seeing the world, yet here we demonstrate how the two beautifully collide.
“These snapshots of the scientific world all tell a story about the complexities of the heart and circulatory system. Connecting science and art showcases new discoveries, sparks curiosity and helps to push for medical breakthroughs in our journey to save and improve lives, and to ultimately beat heartbreak forever.”
If you liked this blog post, you can follow the BHF publication on Medium and check out more about how the BHF is reaching out to the public:
- What can heart researchers learn from astronauts in space?
- From drug design to healing hearts, roll up and take on a fairground of fun
- Can you exercise too much?
Art and science collide: The world of heart and circulatory disease seen in images was originally published in British Heart Foundation on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
