title: A method to quantify co-localization in biological images.
abstract: Quantitative co-localization analysis with fluorescent microscopy is a common approach to assess the spatial co-ordination of molecules and thus to understand their functions in biological processes. However, the co-localization analysis results might not be consistent due to various imaging conditions and different quantification methods used. We propose a novel method to separate a co-localization event into two aspects: co-occurrence and intensity correlation, which are usually combined as one parameter in other quantitative co-localization analyses. By examining co-localization through both co-occurrence and intensity correlation, the co-localization analysis provides accurate and interpretable results. Furthermore, the co-occurrence pixels can be visualized in an additional image channel to provide an intuitive impression of the quantity and locations of the co-localization events occurring.
authors.lastname: Shiwen Zhu
authors.forename: Roy E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Welsch
authors.forename: Paul T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Matsudaira
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D003201:Computers; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D051379:Mice; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D016011:Normal Distribution; D012984:Software