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Preibisch, S.

Publications and source records attributed to Preibisch, S..

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

RS-FISH: Precise, interactive and scalable smFISH spot detection using Radial Symmetry

Fluorescent in-situ hybridization (FISH)-based methods are powerful tools to study molecular processes with subcellular resolution, relying on accurate identification and localization of diffraction-limited spots in microscopy images. We developed the Radial Symmetry-FISH (RS-FISH) software that accurately, robustly, and quickly detects single-molecule spots in two and three dimensions, making it applicable to several key assays, including single-molecule FISH (smFISH), spatial transcriptomics, and spatial genomics. RS-FISH allows interactive parameter tuning and scales to large sets of images as well as tera-byte sized image volumes such as entire brain scans using straight-forward distributed processing on workstations, clusters, and in the cloud.

bioinformatics↗

Dual-view light-sheet imaging through tilted glass interface using a deformable mirror

Light-sheet microscopy has become one of the primary tools for imaging live developing organisms because of its high speed, low phototoxicity, and optical sectioning capabilities. Detection from multiple sides (multi-view imaging) additionally allows nearly isotropic resolution via computational merging of the views. However, conventional light-sheet microscopes require that the sample is suspended in a gel to allow optical access from two or more sides. At the same time, the use of microfluidic devices is highly desirable for many experiments, but geometric constrains and strong optical aberrations caused by the coverslip titled relative to objectives make the use of multi-view lightsheet challenging for microfluidics. In this paper we describe the use of adaptive optics (AO) to enable multi-view light-sheet microscopy in such microfluidic setup by correcting optical aberrations introduced by the tilted coverslip. The optimal shape of deformable mirror is computed by an iterative stochastic gradient-descent algorithm that optimizes PSF in two orthogonal planes simultaneously. Simultaneous AO correction in two optical arms is achieved via a knife-edge mirror that splits excitation path and combines the detection path. We characterize the performance of this novel microscope setup and, by dual-view light-sheet imaging of C.elegans inside a microfluidic channel, demonstrate a drastic improvement of image quality due to AO and dual-view reconstruction. Our microscope design allows multi-view light-sheet microscopy with microfluidic devices for precisely controlled experimental conditions and high-content screening.

bioengineering↗

FRC-QE: A robust and comparable 3D microscopy image quality metric for cleared organoids

Three-dimensional stem-cell-derived organoids are a powerful tool for studying cellular processes in tissue-like structures, enabling in vitro experiments in an organ-specific context. While organoid research has been closely linked to advances in fluorescence microscopy, capturing cellular structures within their global context in an organoid often remains challenging due to the organoids dense structure and opacity. The development of optical clearing methods has provided a solution for fixed organoids but optimizing clearing protocols for a given sample type and staining can be challenging. Importantly, quantitative measures for assessing image quality throughout cleared fluorescent samples are missing. Here, we propose Fourier ring correlation quality estimation (FRC-QE) as a new metric for automated 3D image quality estimation in cleared organoids. We show that FRC-QE robustly captures differences in clearing efficiency within an organoid, across replicates and clearing protocols, as well as for different microscopy modalities. FRC-QE is open-source, written in ImgLib2 and provided as an easy-to-use and macro-scriptable plugin for the popular Fiji software. We therefore envision FRC-QE to fill the gap of providing a reliable quality metric for testing, optimizing and comparing optical clearing methods.

bioinformatics↗

Deciphering the regulatory logic of a Drosophila enhancer through systematic sequence mutagenesis and quantitative image analysis

Transcriptional enhancers are short DNA sequences controlling the spatial activity, timing and levels of eukaryotic gene transcription. Their quantitative transcriptional output is thought to result from the number and organization of transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs). Yet, how the various aspects of regulatory information are encoded in enhancer sequences remains elusive. We addressed this question by quantifying the spatial activity of the yellow spot enhancer active in developing Drosophila wings. To identify which enhancer DNA sequence contributes to enhancer activity, we introduced systematic mutations along the enhancer. We developed an analytic framework that uses comprehensive descriptors to quantify reporter assay in transgenic flies and measure spatial variations in activity levels across the wing. Our analysis highlights an unexpected density of regulatory information in the spot enhancer sequence. Furthermore, it reveals an unanticipated regulatory logic underlying the activity of this enhancer, and how it reads the wing trans-regulatory landscape to encode a spatial pattern.

genetics↗

Stochastic transcription in the p53-mediated response to DNA damage is modulated by burst frequency

AO_SCPCAPBSTRACTC_SCPCAPDiscontinuous transcription has been described for different mammalian cell lines and numerous promoters. However, our knowledge of how the activity of individual promoters is adjusted by dynamic signaling inputs from transcription factor is limited. To address this question, we characterized the activity of selected target genes that are regulated by pulsatile accumulation of the tumor suppressor p53 in response to ionizing radiation. We performed time resolved measurements of gene expression at the single cell level by smFISH and used the resulting data to inform a mathematical model of promoter activity. We found that p53 target promoters are regulated by frequency modulation of stochastic bursting and can be grouped along three archetypes of gene expression. The occurrence of these archetypes cannot solely be explained by nuclear p53 abundance or promoter binding of total p53. Instead, we provide evidence that the time-varying acetylation state of p53s C-terminal lysine residues is critical for gene-specific regulation of stochastic bursting.

systems biology↗

MTrack: Automated Detection, Tracking, and Analysis of Dynamic Microtubules

Microtubules are polar, dynamic filaments fundamental to many cellular processes. In vitro reconstitution approaches with purified tubulin are essential to elucidate different aspects of microtubule behavior. To date, deriving data from fluorescence microscopy images by manually creating and analyzing kymographs is still commonplace. Here, we present MTrack, implemented as a plug-in for the open-source platform Fiji, which automatically identifies and tracks dynamic microtubules with sub-pixel resolution using advanced objection recognition. MTrack provides automatic data interpretation yielding relevant parameters of microtubule dynamic instability together with population statistics. The application of our software produces unbiased and comparable quantitative datasets in a fully automated fashion. This helps the experimentalist to achieve higher reproducibility at higher throughput on a user-friendly platform. We use simulated data and real data to benchmark our algorithm and show that it reliably detects, tracks, and analyzes dynamic microtubules and achieves sub-pixel precision even at low signal-to-noise ratios.

biophysics↗

BigStitcher: Reconstructing high-resolution image datasets of cleared and expanded samples

New methods for clearing and expansion of biological objects create large, transparent samples that can be rapidly imaged using light-sheet microscopy. Resulting image acquisitions are terabytes in size and consist of many large, unaligned image tiles that suffer from optical distortions. We developed the BigStitcher software that efficiently handles and reconstructs large multi-tile, multi-view acquisitions compensating all major optical effects, thereby making single-cell resolved whole-organ datasets amenable to biological studies.

bioinformatics↗

Reconstruction of cell lineages and behaviors underlying arthropod limb outgrowth with multi-view light-sheet imaging and tracking

During development coordinated cell behaviors orchestrate tissue and organ morphogenesis to suit the lifestyle of the organism. We have used here the crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis to study the cellular basis of limb development. Transgenic Parhyale embryos with fluorescently labeled nuclei were imaged at high spatiotemporal resolution with multi-view light-sheet fluorescence microscopy over several days of embryogenesis spanning appendage morphogenesis from early specification up to late differentiation stages. Cell tracking with a new tool called Massive Multi-view Tracker (MaMuT) enabled the reconstruction of the complete cell lineage of an outgrowing thoracic limb with single-cell resolution. In silico clonal analyses suggested that the limb primordium becomes subdivided from an early stage first into anterior-posterior and then into dorsal-ventral compartments whose boundaries intersect at the distal tip of the growing limb. Limb bud formation is associated with the spatial modulation of cell proliferation, while limb elongation is also driven by the preferential orientation of division of epidermal cells along the proximal-distal axis of growth. Cellular reconstructions were predictive of the expression patterns of limb development genes including the Decapentaplegic (Dpp) morphogen.\n\nHIGHLIGHTSO_LIMulti-view light-sheet microscopy of crustacean embryos from species Parhyale hawaiensis are ideal for cellular-level analysis of organ morphogenesis.\nC_LIO_LILineages of 3-dimensional organs were reconstructed at single-cell resolution with the Fiji/ImageJ plugin Massive Multi-view Tracker.\nC_LIO_LIThe Parhyale limb primordium undergoes early lineage restrictions associated with particular cell behaviors and patterns of gene expression.\nC_LIO_LIDifferential rates of cell proliferation and oriented cell divisions guide appendage proximal-distal outgrowth.\nC_LI

developmental biology↗