Fast, accurate, and versatile data analysis platform for the quantification of molecular spatiotemporal signals
- PMID: 40203826
- DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.03.012
Fast, accurate, and versatile data analysis platform for the quantification of molecular spatiotemporal signals
Abstract
Optical recording of intricate molecular dynamics is becoming an indispensable technique for biological studies, accelerated by the development of new or improved biosensors and microscopy technology. This creates major computational challenges to extract and quantify biologically meaningful spatiotemporal patterns embedded within complex and rich data sources, many of which cannot be captured with existing methods. Here, we introduce activity quantification and analysis (AQuA2), a fast, accurate, and versatile data analysis platform built upon advanced machine-learning techniques. It decomposes complex live-imaging-based datasets into elementary signaling events, allowing accurate and unbiased quantification of molecular activities and identification of consensus functional units. We demonstrate applications across a wide range of biosensors, cell types, organs, animal models, microscopy techniques, and imaging approaches. As exemplar findings, we show how AQuA2 identified drug-dependent interactions between neurons and astroglia, as well as distinct sensorimotor signal propagation patterns in the mouse spinal cord.
Keywords: AQuA2; astrocytes; cell interaction analysis; functional units; glial cells; image analysis; machine learning; molecular spatiotemporal signals; neurons; time-lapse imaging.
Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Conflict of interest statement
Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests.
Update of
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Fast, Accurate, and Versatile Data Analysis Platform for the Quantification of Molecular Spatiotemporal Signals.bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2024 Jun 1:2024.05.02.592259. doi: 10.1101/2024.05.02.592259. bioRxiv. 2024. Update in: Cell. 2025 May 15;188(10):2794-2809.e21. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.03.012. PMID: 38766026 Free PMC article. Updated. Preprint.
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