Open AccessUsing migrating cells as probes to illuminate features in live embryonic tissues
Author(s) -
Sargon Gross-Thebing,
Lukasz Truszkowski,
Daniel Tenbrinck,
Héctor Sánchez-Iranzo,
Carolina Camelo,
Kim Joana Westerich,
Amrita Singh,
Paul Maier,
Jonas Prengel,
Pia Lange,
Jan David Hüwel,
Fjedor Gaede,
Ramona Sasse,
Bart E. Vos,
Timo Betz,
Maja Matis,
Robert Prevedel,
Stefan Luschnig,
Alba Diz-Muñoz,
Martin Burger,
Erez Raz
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
science advances
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.928
H-Index - 146
ISSN - 2375-2548
DOI - 10.1126/sciadv.abc5546
Subject(s) - zebrafish , context (archaeology) , biology , computer science , live cell imaging , polarity (international relations) , embryo , computational biology , microbiology and biotechnology , cell , genetics , paleontology , gene
The biophysical and biochemical properties of live tissues are important in the context of development and disease. Methods for evaluating these properties typically involve destroying the tissue or require specialized technology and complicated analyses. Here, we present a novel, noninvasive methodology for determining the spatial distribution of tissue features within embryos, making use of nondirectionally migrating cells and software we termed "Landscape," which performs automatized high-throughput three-dimensional image registration. Using the live migrating cells as bioprobes, we identified structures within the zebrafish embryo that affect the distribution of the cells and studied one such structure constituting a physical barrier, which, in turn, influences amoeboid cell polarity. Overall, this work provides a unique approach for detecting tissue properties without interfering with animal's development. In addition, Landscape allows for integrating data from multiple samples, providing detailed and reliable quantitative evaluation of variable biological phenotypes in different organisms.