Blood Clots with Fibrin and Nanofiber, Colorized

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Bryan B. Hsu, Shuguang Zhang and Paula T. Hammond, Koch Institute at MIT

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These images show what a blood clot looks like on a microscopic scale. You can see the blood cells mixed in with either fibrin (the naturally occurring protein that assembles to give mechanical strength to a blood clot) (left) or a short peptide (RADA16-I) (right) that spontaneously self-assembles to entrap the blood cells, forming an artificial clot. We have found that the latter can help shorten bleeding times.

Keywords: 2016, Hammond Laboratory, Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies, electron microscopy, tissue repair, blood vessels, nanomaterials, MIT

Collection: Image Awards 2016