Image of the Day: Brainless Frogs

Without a brain, the frog embryo immune system doesn’t receive the signals it needs to mobilize macrophages and fight infections.

Amy Schleunes

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ABOVE: The tail of a brainless frog embryo shows an abnormal distribution of immune cells (green) and a haphazard network of nerves (red).
C. HERRERA-RINCON ET AL., NPJ REGENERATIVE MEDICINE, DOI:10.1038/S41536-020-0087-2, 2020

Developing frog embryos without brains die of E. coli infections at higher rates than embryos with brains, report the authors of a study published on February 5 in npj Regenerative Medicine. The brain appears to send signals to the embryo’s nascent immune system, which results in macrophages moving to the site of an infection, according to a press release.

“Our results demonstrate the deep interconnections within the bacteria-brain-body axis: the early brain is able to ‘sense’ the pathogenic bacteria and to elaborate a response targeted to fight against the cellular and molecular consequences of the infection,” says coauthor Celia Herrera-Rincon of Tufts University in the statement.

C. Herrera-Rincon et al., “An in vivo brain-bacteria interface: the developing brain as ...

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Meet the Author

Amy Schleunes
A former intern at The Scientist, Amy studied neurobiology at Cornell University and later earned her MFA in creative writing from the University of Iowa. She is a Los Angeles–based writer, editor, and communications strategist who collaborates on nonfiction books for Harper Collins and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and also teaches writing at Johns Hopkins University CTY. Her favorite projects involve sharing the insights of science and medicine.
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