Volume visualization in cell biology

The authors discuss the special properties of volumetric cell data (e.g., noise, discontinuity, raggedness) and the particular difficulties encountered when trying to visualize them in three dimensions. The authors describe some of the solutions adopted, specifically in surface discrimination and shading. Nerve cells (neuroblastoma) grown in tissue culture were selected as the biological preparation because these cells possess very rich actin structures. The cells were stained with a fluorescent probe specific for actin (rhodamine-phalloidin) and were viewed and optically sectioned using the Bio-Rad MRC 600 confocal fluorescence microscope. The slice dataset was then reconstructed and processed in the BioCube environment, a comprehensive system developed for volume visualization of cellular structures. The actin cytoskeleton of single cells was visualized and manipulated using this system