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Immunofluorescent images of formaldehyde-fixed cell lines are shown. Three different organelle markers are displayed as different channels in the multicolor images - nucleus stained in blue, microtubules in red and ER in yellow. The various cell structures that are demonstrated are always shown in the green channel using an antibody found in the Human Protein Atlas. The antibody id is linked to the corresponding Cell Atlas protein page. By using the "toggle channels"-buttons, the different channels can be turned on and off. Most cell structures can be highlighted in the cell illustration by hovering over them with the exception of the aggresome. Cytoplasmic bodies are highlighted as cytosol; cytokinetic bridge, midbody, midbody ring and mitotic spindle are highlighted as microtubules, cell junctions are highlighted as plasma membrane and nucleus is highlighted as nucleoplasm.
Staining of nuclear membrane in human cell line A-431 (HPA001209)
Scale bar represents 10µm
Nuclear membrane
The nuclear membrane is a lipid bilayer surrounding the nucleus and isolating it from the cytoplasm. This allows separate molecular progresses in the two compartments and secures a highly controlled gene expression in the nucleus. The outer membrane is continuous with the endoplasmic reticulum, whereas the inner membrane serves as an anchoring site for chromatin. Nuclear pore complexes are distributed throughout the membrane and enable a selective transport of molecules between the nucleus and cytoplasm.
Immunofluorescent staining
The nuclear membrane is easy to recognize, the staining forming a thin circle around the nucleus. However, the nuclear membrane is not perfectly smooth and sometimes it is also possible to see the folds of the membrane as small circles or dots inside the nucleus, which can easily be mistaken as nuclear bodies.