Name: automated quantification and analysis of cell counting procedures using imagej plugins
Uploaded: 2016-11-17T15:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Automated Quantification and Analysis of Cell Counting Procedures Using ImageJ Plugins at JoVE.com

This work was supported by the Canadian Institute of Health Research to CP (OR 142730 and OR 89931). We would like to thank Jelena Brkic for her initial idea of binary particle analysis in ImageJ.

1. Compound Microscope and Camera Setup (Cell Concentration Calculator)
<ol>
	<li>Increase bulb brightness to full with the light adjustment knob, switch to the 4X objective lens, and ensure phase contrast filters are selected. 
	NOTE: Any inverted phase contrast microscope for tissue culture with a dark background, e.g., PhP phase contrast, can be used following standard microscope and camera procedures.</li>
	<li>Within the microscope&#39;s software, set image capture settings to default values. 
	...

<ol>
	<li>Ricardo, R., Phelan, K. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Counting+and+Determining+the+Viability+of+Cultured+Cells.">Counting and Determining the Viability of Cultured Cells.</a> J. Vis. Exp. (16), e752 (2008).</li><li>Using a Hemacytometer to Count Cells. Basic Methods in Cellular and Molecular Biology Available from: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.jove.com/science-education/5048/using-a-hemacytometer-to-count-cells">https://www.jove.com/science-education/5048/using-a-hemacytometer-to-count-cells</a> (2016)</li><li>Graham, M. D. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=The+coulter+principle:+foundation+of+an+industry.">The coulter principle: foundation of an industry.</a> J. Lab. Autom. 8 (6), 72-81 (2003).</li><li>Ormerod, M. G., Imrie, P. R., Walker, J. M., Pollard, J. W. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Flow+cytometry.">Flow cytometry.</a> Animal Cell Culture. , 543-558 (1990).</li><li>Eliceiri, K. W., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Biological+Imaging+Software+Tools.">Biological Imaging Software Tools.</a> Nat. Methods. 9 (7), 697-710 (2013).</li><li>Louis, K. S., Siegel, A. C., Stoddart, J. M. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Cell+viability+analysis+using+Trypan+blue:+manual+and+automated+methods.">Cell viability analysis using Trypan blue: manual and automated methods.</a> Mammalian Cell Viability: Methods and Protocols. , 7-12 (2011).</li><li>Scott, W. N., Langdon, S. P. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Invasion+and+motility+assays.">Invasion and motility assays.</a> Cancer Cell Culture: Methods and Protocols. , 225-229 (2004).</li><li>Justus, C. R., Leffler, N., Ruiz-Echevarria, M., Yang, L. V. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=In+vitro+Cell+Migration+and+Invasion+Assays.">In vitro Cell Migration and Invasion Assays.</a> J. Vis. Exp. (88), e51046 (2014).</li><li>Luo, L., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=MicroRNA-378a-5p+promotes+trophoblast+cell+survival,+migration+and+invasion+by+targeting+Nodal.">MicroRNA-378a-5p promotes trophoblast cell survival, migration and invasion by targeting Nodal.</a> J. Cell Sci. 125, 3124-3132 (2012).</li><li>Adorno, M., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=A+Mutant-p53/Smad+Complex+Opposes+p63+to+Empower+TGFbeta-Induced+Metastasis.">A Mutant-p53/Smad Complex Opposes p63 to Empower TGFbeta-Induced Metastasis.</a> Cell. 137, 87-98 (2009).</li><li>Chung, T. K. H., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Dysregulation+of+microRNA-204+mediates+migration+and+invasion+of+endometrial+cancer+by+regulating+FOXC1.">Dysregulation of microRNA-204 mediates migration and invasion of endometrial cancer by regulating FOXC1.</a> Int. J. Cancer. 130, 1036-1045 (2012).</li><li>Kramer, N., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=et+al.+In+vitro+cell+migration+and+invasion+assays.">et al. In vitro cell migration and invasion assays.</a> Mutat. Res./Rev. Mutat. 752, 10-24 (2013).</li><li>Al-Khazraji, B. K., Medeiros, P. J., Novielli, N. M., Jackson, D. N. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=An+automated+cell-counting+algorithm+for+fluorescently-stained+cells+in+migration+assays.">An automated cell-counting algorithm for fluorescently-stained cells in migration assays.</a> Biol. Proced. Online. 13, 1-6 (2011).</li><li>Abramoff, M. D., Magalhaes, P. J., Ram, S. J. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Image+processing+with+ImageJ.">Image processing with ImageJ.</a> Biophotonics Intern. 11, 36-42 (2004).</li><li>Grishagin, I. V. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Automatic+cell+counting+with+ImageJ.">Automatic cell counting with ImageJ.</a> Anal. Biochem. 473, 63-65 (2015).</li><li>Thomas, C. R., Paul, G. C. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Applications+of+image+analysis+in+cell+technology.">Applications of image analysis in cell technology.</a> Curr. Opin. Biotech. 7 (1), 35-45 (1996).</li><li>. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Appreciating+data:+warts,+wrinkles+and+all.">Appreciating data: warts, wrinkles and all.</a> Nat. Cell Biol. 8, 203 (2006).</li><li>Rossner, M., Yamada, K. M. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=What's+in+a+picture?+The+temptation+of+image+manipulation.">What's in a picture? The temptation of image manipulation.</a> J. Cell Biol. 166, 11-15 (2004).</li><li>. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Count+objects+in+an+image+in+Adobe+Photoshop.">Count objects in an image in Adobe Photoshop.</a> Helpx.adobe.com. , (2016).</li></ol>

Critical Steps, Troubleshooting, and Limitations
The very nature of automated computational methods, specifically those of particle analysis, necessitates the mathematical ability to define these particles. Consequently, the accuracy of both Cell Concentration Calculator and migration assay counter is majorly dependent on image fidelity, that is, how closely the captured image resembles the cell sample or migration assay membrane. It is therefore of the upmost importance to follow microscope and ...

In vitro cell counting is an important basic technique in a wide range of tissue culture experiments. Accurately determining the number of cells in a culture is essential for experimental reproducibility and standardization1,2. Cell counting can be performed manually using a hemocytometer as well as using a variety of automated methods, each with their own advantages and disadvantages3,4,5. Most of the automated methods for cell counting belong to one of two classes, those that use the Coulter principle or flow cytometry. Coulter counters take advantage of cells electrical resistance to determine cell number and size. They are fast, accurate and cheaper than flow cytometers. However, they are rarely used for only cell counting due to their considerable cost compared to manual counting3. Flow cytometers, on the other hand, are expensive but they have many applications such as cell counting, analysis of the cells shape, structure and measuring internal cell markers4,5. Machines that use either of these two principles are available from many manufacturers. Manual counting is affordable but time-consuming and subject to bias while the automated methods come with a fraction of the time required for the manual counting but using expensive machines6.
Other common cell culture procedures are in vitro cell motility assays, namely, cell migration and invasion7. Migration and invasion assays are commonly used to investigate cell motility and invasiveness in response to a chemotactic response. In addition, they are widely used to study embryonic development, differentiation, inflammatory response, and metastasis of multiple cell types7-11. Cells that have migrated or invaded through the porous membrane of a migration assay can be quantified in two different ways. Firstly, by staining the cells with a fluorescent dye, dissociation from the membrane, and quantification using a fluorescent reader12. A limitation of this method of quantification is that no record can be retained of the membranes and there is no possibility for further analysis13. The second quantification method is for migrated/invaded cells to be fixed and stained with fluorescent dye or more commonly, with cytological dyes such as crystal violet, toluidine blue dye or hematoxylin; then cells are quantified manually using inverted microscopic images of these membranes which is a very time-consuming task12,13.
To overcome the drawbacks of manual cell counting, two reliable and accurate automated cell counters for cell concentration and for the migration assay were developed. These automated cell counter algorithms were developed for ImageJ as a plugin using Oracle&#39;s Java computer language. ImageJ is a public and widely-used image processing tool developed by the National Institute of Health (NIH)14,15; thus, writing these plugins for ImageJ facilitates easy integration into the biological community.
Automation of cell counting ensures high throughput and reproducibility compared to manual counting. Although other available software and plugins can be used to calculate cell concentration through image analysis5,16,17, Cell Concentration Calculator plugin is fast and can also handle dilutions of cells and treatments. Moreover, all results and calculations from these two counters can be saved and exported. The two plugins described in this paper are optimized for the use of a phase contrast microscope for live cell imaging and large field of view (entire membrane capture) imaging for migration assay membranes through the use of a dissecting scope. The plugins are freely available for download with installation instructions from: http://peng.lab.yorku.ca/imagej-plugins.

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="1175">
	<tbody>
		<tr height="60">
			<td height="60" style="height:60px;width:240px;">HyClone Classical Liquid Media: 
			RPMI 1640 - With L-Glutamine</td>
			<td style="width:124px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">SH3002702</td>
			<td style="width:692px;">Cell culturing media&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="60">
			<td height="60" style="height:60px;width:240px;">Fetal bovian serum (FBS)</td>
			<td style="width:124px;">GIBCO BRL</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">P00015</td>
			<td>Media suppliment</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="106">
			<td height="106" style="height:107px;width:240px;">HTR8/SVneo trophoblast cell line</td>
			<td style="width:124px;">Cells were obtained from Dr. Charles Graham (Queen&#8217;s University, Kingston, Canada)</td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td>Software is designed to work with any cell line.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="60">
			<td height="60" style="height:60px;width:240px;">Trypsin</td>
			<td style="width:124px;">GIBCO BRL</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">27250-018</td>
			<td>Prepared as 0.20% (w/v) in 10uM EDTA&#160; 1X PBS</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:240px;">Accutase</td>
			<td style="width:124px;">Innovative Cell Technologies</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">AT104</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="60">
			<td height="60" style="height:60px;width:240px;">10 cm cell culture plates</td>
			<td style="width:124px;">SARSTEDT</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">833902</td>
			<td>Any tissue culture treated plates will be suitable</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="60">
			<td height="60" style="height:60px;width:240px;">Transwell Polyester Membrane Inserts - 8.0&#181;m Pore size</td>
			<td style="width:124px;">Costar 3422 ordered from Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">7200150</td>
			<td>For 24-well plates; Pore size: 8.0&#181;m; 6.5mm diameter; 0.33cm2 growth area</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="60">
			<td height="60" style="height:60px;width:240px;">HARLECO Hematology Stains and Reagents, EMD Millipore - Soluntions 1, 2 &#38; 3</td>
			<td style="width:124px;">EMD Millipore and ordered from VWR</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">65044A, B, &#38; C</td>
			<td>Hemacolor stain set consists of three 500mL (16.9oz.) poly bottles &#38; includes a methanol fixative (Solution 1), an eosin or acid stain (Solution 2), and a methylene blue or basic stain (Solution 3)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="60">
			<td height="60" style="height:60px;width:240px;">Cotton Tipped Applicator</td>
			<td style="width:124px;">Puritan Medical</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">806-WC</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="60">
			<td height="60" style="height:60px;">Single-edge industrial razor blades</td>
			<td style="width:124px;">VWR</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">55411 - 055</td>
			<td>Thickness: 0.30 mm (0.012&#34;)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="60">
			<td height="60" style="height:60px;width:240px;">Microscope Slides - Precleaned/Plain</td>
			<td style="width:124px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">12550A3</td>
			<td>Dimentions: 25 X 75 X 1.0 mm</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="60">
			<td height="60" style="height:60px;width:240px;">Fisherbrand Cover Glasses - Rectangles no. 1</td>
			<td style="width:124px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">12-545E</td>
			<td>Thickness: 0.13 to 0.17mm; Size: 50 x 22mm</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="60">
			<td height="60" style="height:60px;width:240px;">Fisher Chemical Permount Mounting Medium</td>
			<td style="width:124px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">SP15-500</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="124">
			<td height="124" style="height:124px;width:240px;">Leica Stereo dissecting microscope</td>
			<td style="width:124px;">Leica Microsystems</td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td style="width:692px;">The microsope is equipped with Leica microscope camera Model MC170 HD &#38; camera software is Leica App. Suite (LAS E2) Version 3.1.1 [Build: 490]. Microscope parts:&#160; LED3000 Spot Light Illumination Model: MEB126, Leica M80 Optic Carrier Model M80, Objective achromat 1.0X, WD=90mm Model: MOB306 &#38; Objective achromat 0.32X, WD=303mm Model: MOB315, Video Objective 0.5X Model: MTU-293,&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="60">
			<td height="60" style="height:60px;width:240px;">Hemacytometer</td>
			<td style="width:124px;">Assistant Germany&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td>0.100 mm Depth - 0.0025 mm2</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="60">
			<td height="60" style="height:60px;width:240px;">Olympus inverted light microscope</td>
			<td style="width:124px;">Olympus Corporation</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">CKX41SF</td>
			<td>The microsope is equipped with Lumenera Infinity 1-2&#160;&#160; 2.0 Megapixel CMOS Color Camera &#38; camera software is Infinity analyze Version 6.5.2</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="60">
			<td height="60" style="height:60px;width:240px;">Laminar flow cabinet 1300 Series A2</td>
			<td style="width:124px;">Thermo Scientific&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">Model: 1375</td>
			<td>Any laminar flow cabinet for cell culture work will be suitable&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="60">
			<td height="60" style="height:60px;width:240px;">Cell culture incubator</td>
			<td style="width:124px;">Thermo Scientific&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">Model: 370</td>
			<td>Any cell culture incubator will be suitable - Cells were cultured under humidefied environment, 5% CO2, 37 &#176;C&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="66">
			<td height="66" style="height:67px;width:240px;">ImageJ</td>
			<td style="width:124px;">NIH</td>
			<td>Version 1.50e</td>
			<td>Minimum version required</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="44">
			<td height="44" style="height:44px;width:240px;">Java Runtime Environment</td>
			<td style="width:124px;">Oracle</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">Version 1.8.0_66</td>
			<td>Minimum version required</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

automated quantification and analysis of cell counting procedures using imagej plugins

The National Institute of Health&#39;s ImageJ is a powerful, freely available image processing software suite. ImageJ has comprehensive particle analysis algorithms which can be used effectively to count various biological particles. When counting large numbers of cell samples, the hemocytometer presents a bottleneck with regards to time. Likewise, counting membranes from migration/invasion assays with the ImageJ plugin Cell Counter, although accurate, is exceptionally labor intensive, subjective, and infamous for causing wrist pain. To address this need, we developed two plugins within ImageJ for the sole task of automated hemocytometer (or known volume) and migration/invasion cell counting. Both plugins rely on the ability to acquire high quality micrographs with minimal background. They are easy to use and optimized for quick counting and analysis of large sample sizes with built-in analysis tools to help calibration of counts. By combining the core principles of Cell Counter with an automated counting algorithm and post-counting analysis, this greatly increases the ease with which migration assays can be processed without any loss of accuracy.

Cell Concentration Calculator
Figure 1 presents the overall process of CCC calibration and countable image acquisition. Figure 1A and 1B depict the P-square calibration image and calculation of P-square length in pixels. CCC determines cell concentration in a given volume using the formula:
<img alt="Equation 1" src="/files/ftp_upload/54719/54719eq1.jpg"...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Automated Quantification and Analysis of Cell Counting Procedures Using ImageJ Plugins at JoVE.com

Automated Quantification and Analysis of Cell Counting Procedures Using ImageJ Plugins

This paper describes the quantification of hemocytometer and migration/invasion micrographs through two new open-source ImageJ plugins Cell Concentration Calculator and migration assay Counter. Furthermore, it describes image acquisition and calibration protocols as well as discusses in detail the input requirements of the plugins.

The National Institute of Health&#39;s ImageJ is a powerful, freely available image processing software suite. ImageJ has comprehensive particle analysis ...

Research

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