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Measuring the average cell size and width of its distribution in cellular tissues using Fourier transform

  • Regular Article - Living Systems
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Abstract

We present an in-depth investigation of a fully automated Fourier-based analysis to determine the cell size and the width of its distribution in 3D biological tissues. The results are thoroughly tested using generated images, and we offer valuable criteria for image acquisition settings to optimize accuracy. We demonstrate that the most important parameter is the number of cells in the field of view, and we show that accurate measurements can already be made on volume only containing \(3\times 3\times 3\) cells. The resolution in z is also not so important, and a reduced number of in-depth images, of order of one per cell, already provides a measure of the mean cell size with less than 5% error. The technique thus appears to be a very promising tool for very fast live local volume cell measurement in 3D tissues in vivo while strongly limiting photobleaching and phototoxicity issues.

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Acknowledgements

The project was supported by the Labex Imust (Université Lyon). We thank C. Moulin from centre NanOpTec (Université Lyon) for help on two-photon data acquisition. S. M. and H. D.-A. designed the experiment. T. H., S. M. and C. J. performed the experiments. T. H., S. M. and H. D.-A. analyzed the data. A. N. and H. D.-A. interpreted the data. T. H., A. N. and H. D.-A. wrote the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Univ Lyon, Univ Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS, Institut Lumière Matière, 69622, Villeurbanne, France

    Tess Homan, Sylvain Monnier, Cécile Jebane & Hélène Delanoë-Ayari

  2. Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, CEA/LETIMinatec, Grenoble INP, LTM, 38054, Grenoble, France

    Alice Nicolas

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  1. Tess Homan
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  2. Sylvain Monnier
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  3. Cécile Jebane
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  4. Alice Nicolas
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  5. Hélène Delanoë-Ayari
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Correspondence to Hélène Delanoë-Ayari.

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Homan, T., Monnier, S., Jebane, C. et al. Measuring the average cell size and width of its distribution in cellular tissues using Fourier transform. Eur. Phys. J. E 45, 44 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/s10189-022-00198-y

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