TY - JOUR T1 - Image velocimetry and spectral analysis enable quantitative characterization of larval zebrafish gut motility JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/169979 SP - 169979 AU - Julia Ganz AU - Ryan P. Baker AU - M. Kristina Hamilton AU - Ellie Melancon AU - Parham Diba AU - Judith S. Eisen AU - Raghuveer Parthasarathy Y1 - 2017/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/07/28/169979.abstract N2 - Summary Statement We present a new image analysis technique using image velocimetry and spectral analysis that returns quantitative measures of gut contraction strength, frequency, and wave speed that can be used to study gut motility and other cellular movements.Abstract Normal gut function requires rhythmic and coordinated movements that are affected by developmental processes, physical and chemical stimuli, and many debilitating diseases. The imaging and characterization of gut motility, especially regarding periodic, propagative contractions driving material transport, are therefore critical goals. Whereas previous image analysis approaches have successfully extracted properties related to temporal frequency of motility modes, robust measures of contraction magnitude remain elusive. We developed a new image analysis method based on image velocimetry and spectral analysis that reveals temporal characteristics such as frequency and wave propagation speed, while also providing quantitative measures of the amplitude of gut motions. We validate this approach using several challenges to larval zebrafish, imaged with differential interference contrast microscopy. Both acetylcholine exposure and feeding increase frequency and amplitude of motility. Larvae lacking enteric nervous system gut innervation show the same average motility frequency, but reduced and less variable amplitude compared to wild-types. Our image analysis approach enables insights into gut dynamics in a wide variety of developmental and physiological contexts and can also be extended to analyze other types of cell movements. ER -