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Argunşah AÖ, Erdil E, Ghani MU, Ramiro-Cortés Y, Hobbiss AF, Karayannis T, Çetin M, Israely I, Ünay D. An interactive time series image analysis software for dendritic spines. Sci Rep 2022; 12:12405. [PMID: 35859092 PMCID: PMC9300710 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-16137-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2022] [Accepted: 07/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Live fluorescence imaging has demonstrated the dynamic nature of dendritic spines, with changes in shape occurring both during development and in response to activity. The structure of a dendritic spine correlates with its functional efficacy. Learning and memory studies have shown that a great deal of the information stored by a neuron is contained in the synapses. High precision tracking of synaptic structures can give hints about the dynamic nature of memory and help us understand how memories evolve both in biological and artificial neural networks. Experiments that aim to investigate the dynamics behind the structural changes of dendritic spines require the collection and analysis of large time-series datasets. In this paper, we present an open-source software called SpineS for automatic longitudinal structural analysis of dendritic spines with additional features for manual intervention to ensure optimal analysis. We have tested the algorithm on in-vitro, in-vivo, and simulated datasets to demonstrate its performance in a wide range of possible experimental scenarios.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ali Özgür Argunşah
- Champalimaud Research, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Lisbon, 1400-038, Portugal. .,Laboratory of Neural Circuit Assembly, Brain Research Institute (HiFo), University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland. .,UZH/ETH Zürich, Neuroscience Center Zurich (ZNZ), Zürich, Switzerland.
| | - Ertunç Erdil
- ETH Zürich, Computer Vision Laboratory, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Muhammad Usman Ghani
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Boston University, Boston, 02215, MA, USA
| | - Yazmín Ramiro-Cortés
- Champalimaud Research, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Lisbon, 1400-038, Portugal.,Departamento de Neurodesarrollo y Fisiología, Instituto de Fisiología Celular, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, C.P. 04510, Mexico
| | - Anna F Hobbiss
- Champalimaud Research, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Lisbon, 1400-038, Portugal
| | - Theofanis Karayannis
- Laboratory of Neural Circuit Assembly, Brain Research Institute (HiFo), University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.,UZH/ETH Zürich, Neuroscience Center Zurich (ZNZ), Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Müjdat Çetin
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Goergen Institute for Data Science, University of Rochester, Rochester, 14627, NY, USA
| | - Inbal Israely
- Champalimaud Research, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Lisbon, 1400-038, Portugal.,Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Columbia University, New York, 10032, NY, USA
| | - Devrim Ünay
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, İzmir University of Economics, İzmir, Turkey. .,Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, İzmir Democracy University, İzmir, Turkey.
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Abstract
Connections between neurons can undergo long-lasting changes in synaptic strength correlating with changes in structure. These events require the synthesis of new proteins, the availability of which can lead to cooperative and competitive interactions between synapses for the expression of plasticity. These processes can occur over limited spatial distances and temporal periods, defining dendritic regions over which activity may be integrated and could lead to the physical rewiring of synapses into functional groups. Such clustering of inputs may increase the computational power of neurons by allowing information to be combined in a greater than additive manner. The availability of new proteins may be a key modulatory step towards activity-dependent, long-term growth or elimination of spines necessary for remodelling of connections. Thus, the aberrant growth or shrinkage of dendritic spines could occur if protein levels are misregulated. Indeed, such perturbations can be seen in several mental retardation disorders, wherein either too much or too little protein translation exists, matching an observed increase or decrease in spine density, respectively. Cellular events which alter protein availability could relieve a constraint on synaptic competition and disturb synaptic clustering mechanisms. These changes may be detrimental to modifications in neural circuitry following activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yazmín Ramiro-Cortés
- Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme at Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, , 2780-156 Oeiras, Portugal
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