Characterization and identification of cell death dynamics by quantitative phase imaging.

Area of Science:

• Cell Biology
• Biophysics

Background:

• Investigating single-cell death dynamics is crucial in biological research.
• Quantitative phase imaging (QPI) is a label-free technique widely used for cell imaging.
• The dynamics of QPI features during cell death remain undercharacterized.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a label-free technique for quantitatively characterizing single-cell dynamics.
• To analyze cellular morphology and intracellular mass distribution during apoptosis and necrosis.

Main Methods:

• Time-lapse phase images of apoptotic, necrotic, and normal cells were captured using QPI.
• Morphological and QPI features during cell death were analyzed.
• Sigmoid function fitting was employed to quantify the extent and rate of changes.

Main Results:

• Apoptotic and necrotic cells exhibited distinct QPI features compared to normal cells.
• Differences were observed in the central region's phase and nuclear boundary sharpness between apoptotic and normal cells.
• Specific QPI signatures differentiated between apoptosis and necrosis.

Conclusions:

• The developed QPI method quantitatively characterizes cell death dynamics.
• This technique can be applied to study cellular state transitions, such as drug responses.
• It provides insights into cell death mechanisms at the single-cell level.