Turning Red

A fluorescence microscopy photo of an irregularly-shaped cellular structure (in red) surrounded by round cell nuclei (in blue), on a black background.

Ever feel overwhelmed? Your cells do too. As sentinels of the brain, microglia are usually calm and ready. But we all have limits. Fluorescent imaging captures when cellular stress takes over: amidst a sea of calm blue cells, a red inflammasome is released. Proof that even cells have bad days!