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Quanty-cFOS, a Novel ImageJ/Fiji Algorithm for Automated Counting of Immunoreactive Cells in Tissue Sections
Carlo Antonio Beretta1,2, Sheng Liu1, Alina Stegemann1
1Pharmacology Institute, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 366, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
Cells
|March 11, 2023
Summary
Quanty-cFOS is a new open-source tool that automates counting Fos protein and c-fos mRNA in brain tissue. This software overcomes variability, enabling accurate spatial mapping of neural activity.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Molecular Biology
- Bioinformatics
Background:
- Neural encoding and plasticity studies often use immediate early genes like c-fos to map brain activity.
- Quantifying c-fos expression in cells is challenging due to human bias and variability.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce Quanty-cFOS, an open-source ImageJ/Fiji tool for automated cell counting of Fos protein and c-fos mRNA.
- To provide a streamlined and reliable method for spatial mapping of neural activity.
Main Methods:
- Development of an open-source ImageJ/Fiji plugin, Quanty-cFOS.
- Automated or semi-automated counting pipeline using intensity cutoff algorithms.
- Validation using brain tissue sections from somatosensory stimulation experiments.
Main Results:
- Quanty-cFOS enables automated/semi-automated counting of Fos-positive cells and c-fos mRNA.
- The tool overcomes data variations, providing reliable cell counts registered to specific brain areas.
- Demonstrated ease of use with step-by-step guidance and video tutorials.
Conclusions:
- Quanty-cFOS offers a rapid, accurate, and unbiased method for spatial mapping of neural activity.
- The tool can be extended to count other labelled cell types.
- Facilitates research in neural encoding and plasticity by simplifying c-fos expression analysis.
