Neuron Morphometrics

The precise, intricate morphology of axons and dendrites is critical to neuronal function. Currently there are only limited tools for rapid and accurate determination of size and shape of neurite arbors in vitro. None of the available methods allows for batch analysis of sets of neurons, which would not only increase speed for basic science studies, but also allow higher-throughput analyses such as screening for drug effects. The goal of this project is to design tools to obtain accurate information about neuron size and shape based on skeletonized representations of fluorescently labeled cultured neurons, while minimizing the amount of manual intervention. The strategy is to generate a very good skeleton (see picture below) and then use computational means to correct the estimates of length and branch number. This is part of a project on drug therapy for mental retardation, lead by Linda Restifo at University of Arizona.

Collaborators:

• Linda Restifo, ARL Divison of Neurobiology, University of Arizona, and Department of Neurology, Arizona Health Sciences Center
• Martha Narro, ARL Divison of Neurobiology, University of Arizona
• Alon Efrat University of Arizona

Publications:

• ``NeuronMorphometrics: A Tool for Semi-Automated Processing of Cultured Neuronal Cell Images'' [abstract] (M. Narro, F. Yang, R. Kraft, C. Wenk, A. Efrat, L. Restifo), Brain Research 1138:57-75, 2007.