Though most often diagnosed in teenagers, osteosarcoma may affect adults as well, especially those over the age of 50. When the bone cancer occurs in such individuals it is typically associated with Paget’s disease. Named for Sir James Paget, who was the first to describe the condition, Paget’s disease is characterized by abnormal bone destruction and regrowth, and is accompanied by an increase risk for certain kinds of cancer, particularly osteosarcoma. Scientists have not yet been able to determine a cause of the disease and there is no known cure. Several different drugs are available, however, that provide a significant amount of relief to patients by suppressing the breakdown of bone tissue and treating symptoms, such as joint pain, inflammation, and stiffness.

The culture of U-2 OS cells presented in the digital image above was transfected with a pDsRed-Mitochondria plasmid subcellular localization vector, thus localizing a red fluorescent protein tag to the intracellular mitochondrial network. Stable transfectants were isolated, grown in monolayer culture, and then fixed, permeabilized, and labeled with a combination of DAPI and Alexa Fluor 488 conjugated to phalloidin, targeting DNA and filamentous actin, respectively. Images were recorded in grayscale with a QImaging Retiga Fast-EXi camera system coupled to an Olympus BX-51 microscope equipped with bandpass emission fluorescence filter optical blocks provided by Omega Optical. During the processing stage, individual image channels were pseudocolored with RGB values corresponding to each of the fluorophore emission spectral profiles.