title: Automated multidimensional image analysis reveals a role for Abl in embryonic wound repair.
abstract: The embryonic epidermis displays a remarkable ability to repair wounds rapidly. Embryonic wound repair is driven by the evolutionary conserved redistribution of cytoskeletal and junctional proteins around the wound. Drosophila has emerged as a model to screen for factors implicated in wound closure. However, genetic screens have been limited by the use of manual analysis methods. We introduce MEDUSA, a novel image-analysis tool for the automated quantification of multicellular and molecular dynamics from time-lapse confocal microscopy data. We validate MEDUSA by quantifying wound closure in Drosophila embryos, and we show that the results of our automated analysis are comparable to analysis by manual delineation and tracking of the wounds, while significantly reducing the processing time. We demonstrate that MEDUSA can also be applied to the investigation of cellular behaviors in three and four dimensions. Using MEDUSA, we find that the conserved nonreceptor tyrosine kinase Abelson (Abl) contributes to rapid embryonic wound closure. We demonstrate that Abl plays a role in the organization of filamentous actin and the redistribution of the junctional protein β-catenin at the wound margin during embryonic wound repair. Finally, we discuss different models for the role of Abl in the regulation of actin architecture and adhesion dynamics at the wound margin.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 3G9.
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zulueta-Coarasa
authors.affiliation: Developmental Biology Program, Sloan-Kettering Institute, New York, NY 10065, USA.
authors.forename: Masako
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tamada
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 3G9.
authors.forename: Eun J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 3G9 Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 3G5 Developmental and Stem Cell Biology Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada M5G 1X8 rodrigo.fernandez.gonzalez@utoronto.ca.
authors.forename: Rodrigo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fernandez-Gonzalez
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism; D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D001331:Automation; D058948:Cell Tracking; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000196:embryology* / Q000201:enzymology; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D008954:Models, Biological; D016315:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-abl / Q000378:metabolism*; D011554:Pseudopodia / Q000378:metabolism; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014945:Wound Healing; D051176:beta Catenin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D051176:beta Catenin; D016315:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-abl
keywords: Drosophila; Epithelial morphogenesis; Junctional dynamics; Mechanical forces; Quantitative image analysis; Segmentation algorithms; Wound healing