Analysis of morphometric and fractal properties of phase-contrast images of native and apoptotically changed MCF-7 cells

Abstract

This work was aimed at the determination of the morphometric and fractal characteristics of native and apoptotic MCF-7 cells on the basis of the analysis of phase contrast images obtained using laser interference microscopy. MCF-7 cells were cultured under standard conditions. The cell phase images were obtained using a laser interference microscope (model MIM-340) at Perm Federal Research Center of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In the work, 30 native MCF-7 cells and 30 MCF-7 cells apoptotically changed under the action of doxorubicin were studied. The phase images obtained were treated to highlight the cell contour so as to subsequently determine the morphometric parameters and fractal dimension of the cell phase image contour. The maximal and minimal diameters, perimeter and volume of the cell phase images were chosen as geometric characteristics of the images. The fractal dimension of the phase image contour was calculated as a scale-invariant parameter indicating the indented character of the cell contour. The comparative analysis of the morphology of native and apoptotic MCF-7 cells enabled differentiating the cells under study using the two-sample non-parametric Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney test.