Morphodynamic profiling of protrusion phenotypes.

ABSTRACT: We propose a framework for tracking arbitrary complex cell boundary movements, relying on a unique definition of protrusion and retraction as the pathlength a virtual edge marker traverses when moving continuously perpendicular to the cell boundary. We introduce the level set method as a numerical scheme to reconstruct continuous boundary movement in time-lapse image sequences with finite time sampling. For moderately complex movements, we describe a numerically less expensive method that satisfactorily approximates the definition. Densely sampled protrusion and retraction rates were accumulated in space-time charts revealing distinct morphodynamic states. Applying this technique to the profiling of epithelial cell protrusion we identified three different states. In the I-state, long cell

SUBMITTER: Machacek M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1367294 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature