Quantitative pixel analysis of time-resolved super-resolution images enables a deeper knowledge of the reorganization mechanisms in eukaryotic cells. For a full understanding of organisms, the dynamic mechanisms taking place inside cells at a scale below the optical diffraction limit must be monitored in real time and in a quantitative way. One particularly relevant mechanism is the reorganization of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and microtubules (MTs) in eukaryotic cells, which form dynamic interconnected networks of membranes and nanofibers.

To monitor and understand their reorganization, an important step forward has been made by Shuhao Qian and coworkers. U2OS cells (a type of cells derived from bone sarcoma) labelled with ER- and MT- specific fluorescent species were observed by time-resolved two-dimensional structured illumination microscopy. This enabled imaging selectively the subwavelength ER and MTs and evidencing a new reorganization process called “hooking”, in which the ER hangs on the MT.

A quantitative pixel analysis of the structures provided two quantities, the orientation and waviness, which represent the structure’s mean local orientation and local orientation disorder at each pixel. The pattern of space and time variations of these quantities enable to specifically identify the ongoing reorganization processes. These findings are appealing for an automatized recognition of the dynamic mechanisms occurring at the nanoscale in cells.

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