Life through the lens
Introduction: Cell Motility
All cells show some ability to move at some stage of their lives. Some cells are highly active, such as immune system cells and amoebae. The basis for all cell movement arises from the cell’s internal skeleton that is made of proteins called tubulin and actin. Using structures made from these proteins, cells can move internal material, divide, crawl, and swim.
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Crawling Amoeba
Amoeba proteus stained with a pH-dependent dye.

Elapsed time about 5 minutes.
Amoebae stained with a pH-dependent dye were mounted in pondwater between a slide and coverslip using a silicon spacer. The movie was taken on an compound inverted microscope using a 20x objective and digital camera.