Quantification of collective signalling in time-lapse microscopy images

Area of Science:

• Cell Biology
• Biophysics
• Computational Biology

Background:

• Live-cell imaging reveals space-time signaling correlations in cell collectives are vital for morphogenesis, wound healing, regeneration, and epithelial homeostasis.
• Quantifying these collective signaling phenomena is essential for understanding biological processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a protocol for quantifying apoptosis-induced ERK activity waves in MCF10A epithelium.
• To provide a computational method (ARCOS) for detecting and quantifying collective cell signaling.
• To offer an accessible workflow using the napari image viewer for users without programming experience.

Main Methods:

• Raw time-lapse fluorescence microscopy images are processed through a series of image manipulations.
• The ARCOS computational method is employed to detect and quantify collective signaling patterns.
• An interactive workflow within the napari image viewer is described for user accessibility.

Main Results:

• A protocol is demonstrated for quantifying apoptosis-induced ERK activity waves.
• The ARCOS method effectively detects and quantifies collective signaling phenomena.
• An accessible workflow is provided for analyzing collective cell behaviors.

Conclusions:

• The presented approach enables the quantification of collective cell signaling, specifically apoptosis-induced ERK activity waves.
• This methodology is applicable to various space-time correlations in cells, cell collectives, and multicellular organisms across 2D and 3D geometries.
• The study facilitates a deeper understanding of the organizational role of cell signaling in biological processes.