Development of automated numerical methods for analysis of morphogenesis and their application to chiral structure and motion

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K14522
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Developmental biology
• Research Institution: Niigata University
• Principal Investigator: Tamada Atsushi 新潟大学, 医歯学総合研究科, 客員研究員 (60270576)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 成長円錐 / 神経突起 / キラリティ / 左右非対称性 / リース変換 / 微分干渉顕微鏡 / 構造テンソル / オプティカルフロー

Outline of Final Research Achievements

For investigating the mechanism of morphogenesis, it is necessary to quantitatively analyze the structure and motion of the cells. Here, in this study, we developed automated methods for imaging and analyzing of 3D structure and 4D motion of the cells. We developed three fundamental techniques including 1) Riesz transform-differential interference contrast microscopy for label-free 4D live imaging, 2) automated analysis of 3D cellular structure by the structure tensor and 3) automated analysis of 4D morphological changes by the multi-scale optical flow. By applying these techniques to neurons and cellular slime mold, we demonstrated that neuronal growth cones, growing neurites and migrating cellular slime mold show 3D chiral morphology and 4D spiral motion.

Free Research Field

神経科学