Methodological approaches in aggregate formation and microscopic analysis to assess pseudoislet morphology and cellular interactions

Abstract

Microscopy has revolutionised our view on biology and has been vital for many discoveries since its invention around 200 years ago. Recent developments in cell biology have led to a strong interest in generating spheroids and organoids that better represent tissue. However, the current challenge faced by many researchers is the culture and analysis of these three-dimensional (3D) cell cultures. With the technological improvements in reconstructing volumetric datasets by optical sections, it is possible to quantify cells, their spatial arrangement, and the protein distribution without destroying the physical organization. We assessed three different microwell culture plates and four analysis tools for 3D imaging data for their applicability for the analysis of 3D cultures. A key advantage of microwell plates is their potential to perform high-throughput experiments in which cell cultures are generated and analysed in one single system. However, it was shown that this potential could be impacted by the material composition and microwell structure. For example, antibody staining was not possible in a hydrogel microwell, and truncated pyramid–structured microwells had increased background fluorescence due to their structure. Regarding analysis tools, four different software, namely CellProfiler, Fiji/ImageJ, Nikon GA3 and Imaris, were compared for their accuracy and applicability in analysing datasets from 3D cultures. The results showed that the open-access software, CellProfiler and Fiji, could quantify nuclei and cells, yet with varying results compared to manual counting, and may require post-processing optimisation. On the other hand, the GA3 and Imaris software packages showed excellent versatility in usage and accuracy in the quantification of nuclei and cells, and could classify cell localisation. Together these results provide critical considerations for microscopic imaging and analysis of 3D cell cultures.