Analysis of filopodia dynamics

ImageJ & R, for advanced analysts. Slides, Scripts, Reproduction of results & deconstruction. Segmentation of filopodia (thin filamentous structure) and analysis of their shape and movements to characterize phenotypes.

In the workshop we will illustrate how Filopodyan can be used to perform these measurements, and how it enables analyses with multiple different goals: 1. comparing morphological and dynamic properties of filopodia between different datasets, to understand the influence of various treatments/genotypes on filopodial dynamics; 2. investigating correlations between different filopodia metrics, to uncover new relationships between various filopodia properties; 3. analysing the temporal profile of the accumulation of fluorescence at the sites of filopodium formation, in order to understand the molecular events leading to the initiation of a new filopodium; and 4. analysing the temporal cross-correlation of tip fluorescence with tip movement within each filopodium over the entire time series, to understand whether proteins of interest propel filopodia tips or hinder their growth.