Premium
Morphology of reactive microglia in the injured cerebral cortex. Fractal analysis and complementary quantitative methods
Author(s) -
Sołtys Zbigniew,
Ziaja Marek,
Pawliński Rafał,
Setkowicz Zuzanna,
Janeczko Krzysztof
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of neuroscience research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.72
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1097-4547
pISSN - 0360-4012
DOI - 10.1002/1097-4547(20010101)63:1<90::aid-jnr11>3.0.co;2-9
Subject(s) - neocortex , fractal dimension , solidity , neuroscience , microglia , convexity , biology , morphology (biology) , cerebral cortex , fractal , morphological analysis , biological system , mathematics , computer science , artificial intelligence , mathematical analysis , inflammation , immunology , economics , financial economics , programming language , genetics
The present study focuses on application of quantitative methods measuring differences between particular morphological types of microglial cells as well as between their proliferating and non‐proliferating examples. On the basis of subjective classification, microglial cells of three morphological types (ramified, hypertrophied and bushy) were selected from the neocortex of injured rat brain. Thereafter, the morphological complexity of each cell was assessed by calculation its fractal dimension as well as its form factor, convexity, ramification factor and solidity. The fractal dimension seemed a good parameter for detecting small changes in the space‐filing capacity of cells, for example, it shows differences between ramified cells from control and injured brains. This measure seemed insensitive to some aspects of cell morphology. To obtain precise quantification of observed changes other morphological parameters had to be applied. Proliferating and non‐proliferating microglial cells displayed significant differences in their solidity and ramification factors, but not in fractal dimension and convexity. The results indicated that proliferating microglia were more massive and less‐ramified but they did not reduce their spatial complexity. J. Neurosci. Res. 63:90–97, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.