title: Defining Clonal Color in Fluorescent Multi-Clonal Tracking.
abstract: Clonal heterogeneity and selection underpin many biological processes including development and tumor progression. Combinatorial fluorescent protein expression in germline cells has proven its utility for tracking the formation and regeneration of different organ systems. Such cell populations encoded by combinatorial fluorescent proteins are also attractive tools for understanding clonal expansion and clonal competition in cancer. However, the assignment of clonal identity requires an analytical framework in which clonal markings can be parameterized and validated. Here we present a systematic and quantitative method for RGB analysis of fluorescent melanoma cancer clones. We then demonstrate refined clonal trackability of melanoma cells using this scheme.
authors.affiliation: Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.|Center for Systems Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Juwell W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.|Center for Systems Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Raphaël
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Turcotte
authors.affiliation: Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.|Center for Systems Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Clemens
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Alt
authors.affiliation: Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.|Center for Systems Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Judith M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Runnels
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.|Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.|Massachusetts General Hospital Melanoma and Pigmented Lesion Center, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Hensin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsao
authors.affiliation: Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.|Center for Systems Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.|Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Charles P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D002999:Clone Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D003116:Color; D005453:Fluorescence; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D008164:Luminescent Proteins