Ajay Prakash, Graduate Student, MSTP Program

This image shows a section through the transition region between the stomach and the small intestine of the mouse, a region called the pylorus. At this border, the tall glands (light green) and thick muscle (dark green) of the stomach at the top of the image give way to the smaller, rounder glands of the small intestine. The tissue in both regions is studded with nuclei (blue) that express the genes necessary for cellular function. The wide variety of cells within the pylorus and its unique scythe-like shape are essential to properly control the movement of food across the border from the stomach to the intestine. Occasionally, babies are born with defects in this border region, leading to a relatively common (and usually surgically correctable) problem known as Infantile Hypertrophic Pyloric Stenosis.