{"id":19794,"date":"2022-11-09T01:01:38","date_gmt":"2022-11-09T00:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sciencefocus.com\/?p=130456"},"modified":"2022-11-09T01:10:14","modified_gmt":"2022-11-09T00:10:14","slug":"stellar-constellation-of-blood-vessels-wins-british-heart-foundation-photography-prize","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/rss_feed\/stellar-constellation-of-blood-vessels-wins-british-heart-foundation-photography-prize\/","title":{"rendered":"Stellar constellation of blood vessels wins British Heart Foundation photography prize"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By James Cutmore\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 09 November 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

The winners and runners-up of this year\u2019s British Heart Foundation Reflections of Research image competition have just been announced, with a remarkable image of blood vessels in the lung being awarded the top prize. The winning photograph resembles an astronomical constellation, but instead of stars in the galaxy, tiny immune cells are scattered throughout blood vessels.<\/p>\n

The winning photographer was Dr R\u00e9gis Joulia, a BHF Research Fellow at the BHF Centre of Research Excellence at Imperial College London. His research looks at how the activation of immune cells disrupts the structure of lung blood vessels in chronic inflammatory conditions, such as pulmonary hypertension and asthma.<\/p>\n

The British Heart Foundation<\/a> is a charity that funds ground-breaking research that aims to get us closer to a world free from the fear of heart and circulatory diseases.<\/p>\n

Overall winner \u2013 A flare of stellar vessels<\/h2>\n
\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
This image shows a small region of a human lung and its rich supply of blood vessels in red. The tiny green dots are immune cells called mast cells in the lungs, and the blue dots are pericytes, which are crucial cells for blood vessels to maintain their structure.\u00a0Photo by Dr Regis Joulia\/British Heart Foundation Reflections of Research<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Joint runner-up \u2013 Blood vessel volcano<\/h2>\n
\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
A human blood vessel is shown in green, with blood flowing through its centre in red. Arteries and veins are the highways of the body, responsible for transporting blood, oxygen and nutrients. By looking at the vessel architecture of people with and without hypertension, researchers hope to identify a new protein involved in high blood pressure. Photo by Dr Rh\u00e9ure Alves-Lopes\/British Heart Foundation Reflections of Research<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Joint runner-up \u2013 Regenerating heart<\/h2>\n
\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
The green area of this image is a cross-section of a rat\u2019s heart, with a patch of living heart cells shown in purple. This patch is made from stem cells, and acts as a sticking plaster to repair damage to the heart muscle after a heart attack. This repairable patch is being developed to replace and repair the cells lost after a heart attack, and to prevent heart failure from developing. Photo by Pragati Pandey\/British Heart Foundation Reflections of Research<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Joint runner-up \u2013 Heart within a heart<\/h2>\n
\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Damage to a heart following a heart attack. The death of heart muscle cells dramatically changed the structure of this heart\u2019s main pumping chamber, which has caused it to become deformed into a cartoon heart shape. Photo by Christina Gkantsinikoudi\/Dr Neil Dufton\/British Heart Foundation Reflections of Research<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Shortlisted \u2013 Blood vessel comet<\/h2>\n
\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
This is a human blood vessel taken from a biopsy. It shows the beautiful layers of different cells within the vessel. The black hole in the middle is where blood flows through, surrounded by a lining of endothelial cells captured in yellow. Next, glowing in green is the smooth muscle cells that are responsible for the vessel to widen and narrow. The outer yellow layer represents the adventitia, which contains connective tissue and nerves.\u00a0Dr Karla Neves\/British Heart Foundation Reflections of Research<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Shortlisted \u2013 A heart in the lungs<\/h2>\n
\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
This purple-grey heart shape in the middle of the image is an airway in the centre of a mouse lung, and the tiny air sacs called alveoli that form a mesh-like network around the airway are shown in pale purple. Surrounding the airway are large blood vessels highlighted in bright purple. Photo by Manpreet Kaur\/British Heart Foundation Reflections of Research<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Shortlisted \u2013 Branching blood vessels in the heart<\/h2>\n
\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
What looks like tree roots branching out into the soil at first glance, is in fact blood vessels growing on the outside surface of the heart \u2013 also known as the epicardium. Photo by Dr Joaquim Miguel Vieira\/British Heart Foundation Reflections of Research<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

More images from Science focus<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\n