Two-dimensional Electrophoresis Image Analysis Research Articles

Fuzzy watershed segmentation algorithm: an enhanced algorithm for 2D gel electrophoresis image segmentation.

Detection and quantification of protein spots is an important issue in the analysis of two-dimensional electrophoresis images. However, there is a main challenge in the segmentation of 2DGE images which is to separate overlapping protein spots correctly and to find the weak protein spots. In this paper, we describe a new robust technique to segment and model the different spots present in the gels. The watershed segmentation algorithm is modified to handle the problem of over-segmentation by initially partitioning the image to mosaic regions using the composition of fuzzy relations. The experimental results showed the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm to overcome the over segmentation problem associated with the available algorithm. We also use a wavelet denoising function to enhance the quality of the segmented image. The results of using a denoising function before the proposed fuzzy watershed segmentation algorithm is promising as they are better than those without denoising.

Changes of the cortex proteome and Apolipoprotein E in transgenic mouse models of Alzheimer's Disease☆

Transgenic mice carrying human Amyloid Precursor Protein mutations present amyloid plaque deposition in the brain upon aging. In this study, we characterized the changes of cortex proteome and endogenous Apolipoprotein E in these mice. Differential analysis of two-dimensional electrophoresis images revealed spots altered upon aging, transgene addition and plaque deposition. Alpha-synuclein and cytochrome oxidase polypeptide Va were up-regulated in transgenic mice. Upon aging, expression of ATP synthase alpha, alpha enolase, UMP-CMP kinase, and dihydropyrimidinase like-2 protein was modified. These proteins and their modification probably play a role in the amyloid aggregate formation in these mice.

Effect of rosiglitazone on the differential expression of diabetes-associated proteins in pancreatic islets of C57Bl/6 lep/lep mice.

The insulin sensitizer drug, rosiglitazone, has been shown to have a protective effect on pancreatic islet cell structure and function in animal models of type 2 diabetes. The identification of new molecular targets associated both with islet cell dysfunction and protection is a crucial research goal. In the present study, a proteomics approach has been used to identify such targets. Obese C57Bl/6J lep/lep mice and lean littermates were given the insulin sensitizer drug BRL49653, rosiglitazone. It normalized the impaired glucose tolerance in lep/lep mice but had no significant effect on glucose tolerance in the lean mice. Pancreatic islet polypeptides were arrayed by a two-dimensional gel electrophoresis system that separated more than 2500 individual spots. Three overexpressed and six underexpressed proteins were significant (p < 0.05) between lep/lep and lean mice, and four were modulated significantly (p < 0.05) by the rosiglitazone treatment of the obese mice. The identity of these differentially expressed proteins was made using mass spectrometric analysis and provided evidence that differential expression of actin-binding proteins may be an important aspect of defective islet function. Rosiglitazone increased carboxypeptidase B expression in both lep/lep and normal mice suggesting that this might be an independent effect of rosiglitazone that contributes to improved insulin processing.

A review of the CLIP system for the quantitative analysis of two‐dimensional electrophoresis gels

This paper reviews the CLIP image processing system for the complete analysis of two-dimensional electrophoresis images. The analysis problem for two-dimensional gel images can be broken down into three issues: segmentation of individual gel images, alignment and comparison of pairs of gel images, and information storage and retrieval. This paper describes these problems and reviews how the CLIP system handles each of them. Segmentation is the location and isolation of each protein spot on an individual gel image and also the extraction of individual spot data such as position, area and volume. There are three basic stages: background field correction, noise filtering, spot detection and information extraction. Alignment and comparison of gel images involves matching protein spots between two gels. This can be quite difficult because there is not a simple relationship which can transform one gel image onto another. The database issues concern storing all the information which has been obtained from the above operations such that retrieval of this information can be readily performed. The advantage of the CLIP system over others is speed of processing. CLIP series computers use one processor for every pixel of the camera image such that image processing algorithms run in parallel. The main disadvantage is in the cost of these machines. With the declining trend in the cost of parallel processors, these machines will become more and more viable alternatives. This papers reviews the algorithms for the analysis of two-dimensional gels. It is shown that CLIP is flexible enough to perform more than one type of algorithm for a particular operation.

Parallel algorithms for querying data on two-dimensional electrophoresis gels

This paper describes some parallel processing algorithms for the analysis of two-dimensional electrophoresis images. One of the largest processor arrays in the world, CLIP4, at University College London, was used in the research. The paper concentrates on algorithms using CLIP4 for querying the data produced on the gel images. It is shown that many typical queries that researchers request can be answered without removing the data from the processor array, eliminating slow transfer times due to the input/output bottleneck problem. The production of these data by CLIP4 has already been described in two previous papers in this journal. Improvements to the system for the future are also presented.

Parallel algorithms for the analysis of two-dimensional electrophoresis gels

This paper describes some parallel processing algorithms for the analysis of two-dimensional electrophoresis images. The machine used for the processing was the CLIP4 Cellular Array Computer at University College, London, one of the largest processor arrays in the world. Included in this paper are an algorithm for centroid detection, Gaussian fitting algorithms, and an algorithm for the extraction of data out of the cellular array machine. It is shown that these parallel algorithms can run at a speed almost completely independent of the number of spots in the gel images.