Whole-Cell Scale Dynamic Organization of Lysosomes Revealed by Spatial Statistical Analysis.

In eukaryotic cells, lysosomes are distributed in the cytoplasm as individual membrane-bound compartments to degrade macromolecules and to control cellular metabolism. A fundamental yet unanswered question is whether and, if so, how individual lysosomes are organized spatially to coordinate and integrate their functions. To address this question, we analyzed their collective behavior in cultured cells using spatial statistical techniques.

Analysis of mitochondrial shape dynamics using large deformation diffeomorphic metric curve matching.

Mitochondrial shape changes are essential to mitochondrial functions. Quantification of mitochondrial shape changes is essential to understanding related physiology and disease mechanisms. In this study, we proposed a new automated pipeline for quantifying the shape changing patterns of mitochondria in the framework of large deformation diffeomorphic metric mapping for curve.

Inner membrane fusion mediates spatial distribution of axonal mitochondria.

In eukaryotic cells, mitochondria form a dynamic interconnected network to respond to changing needs at different subcellular locations. A fundamental yet unanswered question regarding this network is whether, and if so how, local fusion and fission of individual mitochondria affect their global distribution. To address this question, we developed high-resolution computational image analysis techniques to examine the relations between mitochondrial fusion/fission and spatial distribution within the axon of Drosophila larval neurons.