Embryonic Rat Thoracic Aorta Smooth Muscle Fibroblast Cells (A7r5 Line)

The cytoskeletal filamentous actin network was targeted in a culture of A7r5 rat thoracic aorta cells with phalloidin conjugated to Alexa Fluor 350. Phalloidin is a member of the phallotoxin group of bicyclic peptides isolated from the deadly Amanita phalloides mushroom. The cell culture was also labeled for mitochondria with MitoTracker Red CMXRos and counterstained for the nucleus with SYTOX Green. Images were recorded in grayscale with a 12-bit digital camera coupled to a Nikon Eclipse 80i microscope equipped with bandpass emission fluorescence filter optical blocks. During the processing stage, individual image channels were pseudocolored with RGB values corresponding to each of the fluorophore emission spectral profiles.