Quantitative microscopy has in the last couple of years aroused substantial interest for life sciences applications. In eukaryotic cells, quantitative measurements of protein expression, protein localization and protein-protein interactions are key components for a proper understanding of protein functionality. FCC collaborates with the Center for Biophysical Imaging at Chalmers, for developing algorithms and computer software for quantitative in vivo imaging. A software for automated recognition and tracking of yeast cells from transmission microscope images, combined with quantification and localization of GFP-tagged proteins using fluorescence microscopy, is currently under development. For the image analysis algorithms used, the emphasis lies on robust methodologies which enables long time-lapse studies of protein localization, migration, and inheritance over several cell cycles, as well as high through-put screening of protein functionality of a large number of gene-disrupted cells.
Figure: Bright-field image and the corresponding fluorescence image of a GFP-tagged fluorescent protein in a population of yeast cells.