title: Digital image analysis approach for lipid droplet size quantitation of Oil Red O-stained cultured cells.
abstract: A simple approach was developed for the quantification of lipid droplet size and frequency distribution in images acquired by standard light microscopy. Oil Red O-stained cell images were thresholded for the lipid droplet signal using the freely available imaging software ImageJ. Watershed algorithms allowed analyzing the area of each individual lipid droplet. The method was validated by the decrease in lipid droplet size of 3T3-L1 adipocytes on lowered glucose availability associated with reduced glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase activity and reduced transcription of lipid droplet size markers. This approach can be easily applied using standard laboratory equipment without requiring expensive and complex instrumentation.
authors.affiliation: Research Center, Dr. von Hauner Children's Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 80337 Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Manuel J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Deutsch
authors.forename: Sonja C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Schriever
authors.forename: Adelbert A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Roscher
authors.forename: Regina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ensenauer
mesh_terms: D041721:3T3-L1 Cells; D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D001391:Azo Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D005993:Glycerolphosphate Dehydrogenase / Q000378:metabolism; D008055:Lipids / Q000737:chemistry*; D051379:Mice; D008853:Microscopy; D012984:Software
chemical_list: D001391:Azo Compounds; D008055:Lipids; D005993:Glycerolphosphate Dehydrogenase; C471850:glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, FAD-dependent; C011049:oil red O
keywords: Digital image analysis; Light microscopy; Lipid droplet size; Open source software; Quantitation