HybTrack: A hybrid single particle tracking software using manual and automatic detection of dim signals

형광현미경을 이용한 생물 연구 분야에서, 단일 입자 추적 방법(Single Particle Tracking)은 생체분자들의 움직임을 이해하는데 중요한 방법으로 널리 쓰이고 있다. 단일 입자 추적을 위해 유수한 자동 추적 프로그램들이 개발되었지만, 이미지 상에서 heterogeneous한 입자들을 자동으로 추적하는 데는 한계가 있다. 본 연구에서는 단일 입자 추적에 수동적 방법과 자동적 방법을 결합한 MATLAB 기반 프로그램을 개발하였다. 그리고, 이 프로그램이 기존의 다른 프로그램들에 비해, 신경세포에서 형광단백질들로 표시된 mRNA를 추적하는데 더 용이하고 온전한 결과를 가져다 줄 수 있음을 보였다.

Abstract : Single particle tracking is a compelling technique for investigating the dynamics of nanoparticles and biological molecules in a broad range of research fields. In particular, recent advances in fluorescence microscopy have made single molecule tracking a prevalent method for studying biomolecules with a high spatial and temporal precision. Particle tracking algorithms have matured over the past three decades into more easily accessible platforms. However, there is an inherent difficulty in tracing particles that have a low signal-to-noise ratio and/or heterogeneous subpopulations. Here, we present a new MATLAB based tracking program which combines the benefits of manual and automatic tracking methods. The program prompts the user to manually locate a particle when an ambiguous situation occurs during automatic tracking. We demonstrate the utility of this program by tracking the movement of β-actin mRNA in the dendrites of cultured hippocampal neurons. We show that the diffusion coefficient of β-actin mRNA decreases upon neuronal stimulation by bicuculline treatment. This tracking method enables an efficient dissection of the dynamic regulation of biological molecules in highly complex intracellular environments.

Authors : Byung Hun Lee and Hye Yoon Park

•Scientific Reports 8, Article number: 212 (2018)
•doi:10.1038/s41598-017-18569-3
•Published online: 09 January 2018

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-18569-3