MUST CREDIT: Westmead Millennium Institute for Medical Research Mandatory Credit: Photo by Westmead Millennium Institute for Medical Research / Rex Features (1535426a) A smiley face image as seen in a cancer-causing beta-catenin protein 'Smiley face' seen in cancer-causing beta-catenin protein, Westmead Millennium Institute for Medical Research, University of Sydney, Australia - 17 Jan 2012 FULL WORDS LINK: http://www.rexfeatures.com/nanolink/esr7 WATCH VIDEO: http://bit.ly/w218vV SEE CREDITS! Usually a subject which is not a laughing matter, scientists say they have found a smiley face in a cancer-causing protein. The beta-catenin protein causes cancer by moving into the cell nucleus, the round "face" or centre of the cell, and activating a set of genes that transform normal cells into tumour cells. In this highly-unusual image, beta-catenin (green) was monitored moving into the nucleus, the round shape in the centre. The dark patches in the nucleus that bear an uncanny resemblance to a smiley face, with eyes and a mouth, are actually parts of the nucleus where the beta-catenin cannot enter. "We spend 90 per cent of our time going down dead ends, and sometimes you feel as though a disease is having a cackle at your expense," says Dr Beric Henderson, head of the gene expression laboratory at Westmead Millennium Institute for Medical Research, University of Sydney.