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A New Image Analysis Method Based on Morphometric and Fractal Parameters for Rapid Evaluation of In Situ Mammalian Mast Cell Status

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 October 2015

Piper Wedman ,
Ahmed Aladhami ,
Mary Beste ,
Morgan K. Edwards ,
Alena Chumanevich ,
John W. Fuseler  and
Carole A. Oskeritzian
Piper Wedman
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, University of South Carolina School of Medicine, 6439 Garners Ferry Road, Columbia, South Carolina 29209, USA
Ahmed Aladhami
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, University of South Carolina School of Medicine, 6439 Garners Ferry Road, Columbia, South Carolina 29209, USA
Mary Beste
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, University of South Carolina School of Medicine, 6439 Garners Ferry Road, Columbia, South Carolina 29209, USA
Morgan K. Edwards
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, University of South Carolina School of Medicine, 6439 Garners Ferry Road, Columbia, South Carolina 29209, USA
Alena Chumanevich
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, University of South Carolina School of Medicine, 6439 Garners Ferry Road, Columbia, South Carolina 29209, USA
John W. Fuseler
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, University of South Carolina School of Medicine, 6439 Garners Ferry Road, Columbia, South Carolina 29209, USA
Carole A. Oskeritzian*
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, University of South Carolina School of Medicine, 6439 Garners Ferry Road, Columbia, South Carolina 29209, USA
*
*Corresponding author. [email protected]
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Abstract

Apart from their effector functions in allergic disorders, tissue-resident mast cells (MC) are gaining recognition as initiators of inflammatory events through their distinctive ability to secrete many bioactive molecules harbored in cytoplasmic granules. Activation triggers mediator release through a regulated exocytosis named degranulation. MC activation is still substantiated by measuring systemic levels of MC-restricted mediators. However, identifying the anatomical location of MC activation is valuable for disease diagnosis. We designed a computer-assisted morphometric method based on image analysis of methylene blue (MB)-stained normal mouse skin tissue sections that quantitates actual in situ MC activation status. We reasoned MC cytoplasm could be viewed as an object featuring unique relative mass values based on activation status. Integrated optical density and area (A) ratios were significantly different between intact and degranulated MC (p<0.001). The examination of fractal characteristics is of translational diagnostic/prognostic value in cancer and readily applied to quantify cytoskeleton morphology and vasculature. Fractal dimension (D), a measure of their comparative space filling capacity and structural density, also differed significantly between intact and degranulated MC (p<0.001). Morphometric analysis provides a reliable and reproducible method for in situ quantification of MC activation status.

Keywords

mast cellsdegranulationfractal analysisin situmorphometry
Type
Equipment and Techniques Development
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 21 , Issue 6 , December 2015 , pp. 1573 - 1581
Copyright
© Microscopy Society of America 2015 

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Footnotes

†

These authors equally contributed to the study.

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