Published images enable scientists to understand and visualise how a product is used, helping to amplify the impact of fascinating research and innovative products. We began this award after we started collecting published images, and it has become a favourite!

This year, our Image of the Year Award goes to Josef Lavicky et al., from Masaryk University, with their work published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, using reagents from Cell Signaling Technology.

The image is from their research paper entitled: The Development of Dentin Microstructure Is Controlled by the Type of Adjacent Epithelium

In this work, Lavicky et al. investigated types of dental epithelium during odontoblast development, due to its importance in dental tissue engineering. Their work shed light on the differences in dentin between distinct locations, and the role dental epithelium and Wnt signalling plays in contributing to different qualities of dentin.

The striking winning nomination is a confocal image of Alexa Fluor 488 phalloidin-stained sagittal section of a growing mouse incisor, showing the intricacy and beauty in the microstructure of terminal parts of odontoblast processes in the enamel-facing dentin.