A Time-Series Method for Automated Measurement of Changes in Mitotic and Interphase Duration from Time-Lapse Movies

2011

Automated Measurement of Cell Division Duration

Sample size: 43 publication 10 minutes Evidence: high

Author Information

Author(s): Sigoillot Frederic D., Huckins Jeremy F., Li Fuhai, Zhou Xiaobo, Wong Stephen T. C., King Randall W.

Primary Institution: Harvard Medical School

Hypothesis

Can an automated time-series method accurately measure changes in mitotic and interphase duration from time-lapse movies?

Conclusion

The automated time-series method can accurately measure small changes in mitotic and interphase duration, comparable to manual analysis.

Supporting Evidence

The automated method identified the interphase-prophase transition accurately in 93% of nuclei.
The time-series method was as sensitive as manual analysis in detecting changes in cell cycle duration.
The approach allows for high-throughput analysis of time-lapse data sets.
Mitotic duration was measured with high accuracy, yielding a mean of 66.4 minutes.
The method can detect small increases in mitotic duration due to drug treatment.
Changes in interphase duration were also accurately measured under various conditions.
The software is publicly available for use in automated analysis.
The method is computationally rapid compared to supervised learning approaches.

Takeaway

This study created a computer program that helps scientists quickly measure how long cells take to divide, making it easier to study many cells at once.