학술논문

Basal body organization and cell geometry during the cell cycle in Tetrahymena thermophila
MBoC | ARTICLE
Document Type
Academic Journal
Source
Molecular Biology of the Cell. May 15, 2023, Vol. 34 Issue 6, p1b, 13 p.
Subject
Image processor
Image processing
Image processing equipment
Cell cycle
Image processing -- Equipment and supplies
Language
English
ISSN
1059-1524
Abstract
INTRODUCTION The construction of generative models of cell organization is a valuable approach that can provide insight into complex cellular processes, especially those with many components and/or that show significant [...]
Tetrahymena thermophila possesses arrays of motile cilia that promote fluid flow for cell motility. These consist of intricately organized basal bodies (BBs) that nucleate and position cilia at the cell cortex. Tetrahymena cell geometry and spatial organization of BBs play important roles in cell size, swimming, feeding, and division. How cell geometry and BB organization are established and maintained remains poorly understood, and prior studies have been limited due to difficulties in accurate BB identification and small sample size. We therefore developed an automated image processing pipeline that segments single cells, distinguishes unique BB populations, assigns BBs into distinct ciliary rows, and distinguishes new from mature BBs. We identified unique features to describe the variation of cell shape and BB spatial organization in unsynchronized single-cell images. The results reveal asymmetries in BB distribution and ingression of the cytokinetic furrow within the cell. Moreover, we establish novel spatial and temporal waves in new BB assembly through the cell cycle. Finally, we used measurements from single cells across the cell cycle to construct a generative model that allows synthesis of movies depicting single cells progressing through the cell cycle. Our approach is expected to be of particular value for characterizing Tetrahymena mutants.