Regensburg 2019 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 19: Focus session: Physics of cilia: Dynamics of synchronized oscillators
BP 19.4: Talk
Wednesday, April 3, 2019, 16:00–16:15, H11
SpermQ - a simple analysis software to comprehensively study flagellar beating and sperm steering — •Jan N Hansen1, Sebastian Raßmann1, Jan F Jikeli1, and Dagmar Wachten1,2 — 1Institute of Innate Immunity, Biophysical Imaging, University Hospital Bonn, University of Bonn, 53127 Bonn, Germany — 2Center of Advanced European Studies and Research (caesar), Molecular Physiology, 53175 Bonn, Germany
Motile cilia, also called flagella, are found in many species; some cilia propel cells like sperm, while cilia on epithelia create complex fluid patterns e.g. in the brain or lung. For sperm, the picture has emerged that the flagellum is not only a motor, but also a sensor, computing the beat pattern based on environmental cues and thereby, navigating the sperm through the female genital tract. It has been proposed that distinct flagellar signaling domains control the flagellar beat. However, a detailed analysis has been mainly hampered by the fact that current comprehensive analysis approaches rely on complex microscopy and analysis systems. Thus, knowledge on signaling regulating the flagellar beat is based on custom quantification approaches that are limited to only a few parameters, do not resolve the entire flagellum, rely on qualitative descriptions, and are little comparable among each other. Here, we present SpermQ, a ready-to-use and comprehensive analysis software to quantify sperm motility in common time-lapse images acquired by dark-field microscopy. We envision SpermQ becoming a standard tool in motile cilia and flagella research that allows to readily link individual signaling components and distinct flagellar beat patterns.