Cover Slip

Images were acquired using live cell, highcontent confocal fluorescence microscopy (Opera QEHS high-content screening system, PerkinElmer). Patient-derived leukemia cells were obtained from Dr. David Spaner. Cell culture and fluorescence microscopy was performed by Dr. Sina Oppermann and Jarkko Ylanko in the high-content cellular analysis lab of Dr. David Andrews.

Malignant lymphocytes from a patient with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a cancer that affects lymphocytes in the blood, bone marrow and lymph nodes. Lymphocytes are white blood cells that help the immune system fight infection. Scientists at Sunnybrook Research Institute are growing leukemia cells from patients in the lab, and using powerful imaging and computational tools to identify the most promising patient-specific drug treatments—before giving any drugs to the patient. They are using three special dyes to assess cell fitness. These CLL cells, taken before drug treatment, are a mixture of healthy (red) and dead (green) cells. Blue indicates the cell nucleus where the DNA is stored.