Burning Kiss

“Burning Kiss” was commissioned by an awesome cancer researcher in the United State. I am incredibly honoured and excited that this artwork is destined to become a gift for a remarkable professor of cancer immunotherapy who has made fundamental discoveries in the field. His impactful discoveries are the basis of many immunotherapies which help to boost immune response against cancer.

The painting visualises a strong interaction between a cancer cell (blue) and a T immune cell (red) resulted from targeting inhibitory interactions between the two cell types. Through this interaction, activated T cells induce cancer cell death (aka apoptosis). One of the hallmarks of cells undergoing apoptosis is blebbing. These blebs eventually detach from the cell, forming #apoptoticBodies, which are then engulfed and removed by other types of immune cells (aka phagocytic cells, such as #macrophages).

This work was inspired by a combination of SEM microscopy images and digital representations of cancer and immune cells taken from Science Photo Library.