Winner: ‘The trail of the TIGAR – what lies behind’ by Karla Robles Lopez, University of Sheffield

“A new gene called TIGAR (TP53 –Induced Glycolysis and Apoptosis Regulator) is abundantly present and over-expressed in the surviving neurons and neuritis of patients, but also amazingly expressed in the pathological inclusions, the Lewy bodies and neurites. This image shows how the substantia nigra resembles a desert, where TIGAR is abundant.”

Runner-up: ‘Circuitry’ by Sarah Brown, University of Sheffield

“This image shows the brain of a five-day old zebrafish embryo. Dopamine neurons are coloured red, showing the circuits of the neurons that control movement in the brain. These are neurons that degenerate in Parkinson’s disease.”

Runner-up: ‘The network’ by Hugo Fernandes, University of Oxford

“A complex network of neurons develops as stem cells (iPSCs) derived from the skin of a sporadic Parkinson’s patient are differentiated in vitro into dopaminergic neurons.”

‘Chinese lanterns’ by Laura Ferraiuolo, University of Sheffield

“The picture represents human astrocytes, the cells supporting the nerve cells in the brain. Skin cells isolated from patients carrying mutations in Parkinson's gene and affected by Parkinson’s disease were obtained through a skin biopsy and were grown in the lab. The red colour is CellRox, a marker of oxidative stress and free radicals, and yellow is the cell nucleus.”

‘Going solo’ by Hugo Fernandes, University of Oxford

“Young neurons mature in vitro, expanding from the initial cluster of neuron precursors, to make contact with other newly formed neurons and establish crucial neuronal networks. These neurons are derived from skin samples from an individual with sporadic Parkinson’s.”

‘A neuronal journey’ by Hugo Fernandes, University of Oxford

“Just six days into in vitro differentiation, pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) organise into neural tube-like structures (in green, corresponding to neuronal precursors) and give rise to the first neurons (in red). Nuclear staining is presented in blue.
iPSCs are derived from skin samples from an individual with sporadic Parkinson’s.”

‘Regeneration’ by Sarah Brown, University of Sheffield

“This is a slice of a zebrafish brain, showing brain cells in red and green that are thought to have regenerative potential. We can study the capacity of these cells to generate new brain cells. This is particularly useful if neurons have become diseased or have died, such as in Parkinson’s disease.”

‘Connecting calcium stores in Parkinson's’ by Bethan Kilpatrick, University College London

“New research suggests that calcium might be involved in Parkinson’s disease.
Within a cell, calcium is contained in various compartments. In this picture I have labelled some of these compartments with different colours – the lysosomes (the waste processing system of cells) are red, the endoplasmic reticulum (where proteins are made) is blue and mitochondria (the energy producers) are green.”

‘Spaghetti junction’ by Heather Mortiboys, University of Sheffield

“This image shows brain cells in culture. These were generated by turning skin cells from controls and patients with Parkinson’s, into brain cells in the laboratory. The green indicates that these are dopamine brain cells. They connect and talk to each other. The way they form connections looks a lot like spaghetti junction or other road formations on a map!”