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Dominique Jeulin

Publications and source records attributed to Dominique Jeulin.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

Direct extraction of the mean particle size from a digital hologram.

Digital holography, which consists of both acquiring the hologram image in a digital camera and numerically reconstructing the information, offers new and faster ways to make the most of a hologram. We describe a new method to determine the rough size of particles in an in-line hologram. This method relies on a property that is specific to interference patterns in Fresnel holograms: Self-correlation of a hologram provides access to size information. The proposed method is both simple and fast and gives results with acceptable precision. It suppresses all the problems related to the numerical depth of focus when large depth volumes are analyzed.

Journal Article↗

Computer-based detection of neonatal changes to branching morphogenesis reveals different mechanisms of and predicts prostate enlargement in mice haplo-insufficient for bone morphogenetic protein 4.

Early changes to branching morphogenesis of the prostate are believed to lead to enlargement of the gland in adult life. However, it has not been possible to demonstrate directly that alterations to branching during the developmental period have a permanent effect on adult prostate size. In order to examine branching morphogenesis in a quantitative manner in neonatal mice, a combination of imaging and computational technology was used to detect and quantify branching using bone morphogenetic protein 4 haplo-insufficient mice that develop enlarged prostate glands in adulthood. Accurate estimates were made of six parameters of branching, including prostate ductal length and volume and number of main ducts, branches, branch points, and tips. The results show that the prostate is significantly larger on day 3, well before the emergence of the phenotype in older animals. The ventral prostate is enlarged because the number of main epithelial ducts is increased; enlargement of the anterior prostate in mutant animals occurs because there are more branches. These lobe-specific mechanisms underlying prostate enlargement indicate the complex nature of gland pathology in mice, rather than a simple increase in weight or volume. This method provides a powerful means to investigate the aetiology of prostate disease in animal models prior to emergence of a phenotype in later life.

Animals↗

Exogenous BMP-4 amplifies asymmetric ureteric branching in the developing mouse kidney in vitro.

BACKGROUND: Exogenous bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP-4) has been reported to inhibit ureteric branching morphogenesis and regulate the anterior-posterior axis of the developing kidney in vitro. We examined the role of BMP-4 on ureteric branching in vitro using three-dimensional image analysis software and statistical models. Additionally, in vivo ureteric branching was analyzed and the effect of reduced levels of BMP-4 in vivo on nephron number was examined. METHODS: Embryonic day 12.5 (E12.5) Balb/c mouse metanephroi cultured for 48 hours with or without 260 ng/mL recombinant human BMP-4 (rhBMP-4) were immunostained to identify the ureteric epithelium which was quantified in three dimensions. In vivo ureteric branching morphogenesis in Hoxb7/GFP mice was also analyzed. The effect of reduced in vivo levels of BMP-4 on nephron number was examined in BMP-4(+/-) and wild-type mice using an unbiased stereologic method. RESULTS: Qualitative and quantitative studies identified a decrease in total ureteric length and branch number in wild-type mouse metanephroi cultured in the presence of BMP-4. A marked anterior-posterior asymmetry in both ureteric length and branch number was observed in BMP-4-treated metanephroi. A similar asymmetry was revealed in control metanephroi, both in vitro and in vivo. This asymmetry is the result of reduced ureteric branching morphogenesis in the posterior region of the kidney and appears to be due to slower growth rather than the adoption of an alternate branching pattern. Reduction of endogenous BMP-4 in BMP-4(+/-) mice resulted in no change in total nephron number in macroscopically normal kidneys. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that BMP-4 plays an important role in the regulation of ureteric branching morphogenesis, and that excess BMP-4 in vitro can amplify the existing asymmetry of the normal mouse kidney.

Animals↗

Quantitation of 3D ureteric branching morphogenesis in cultured embryonic mouse kidney.

The growth and branching of the epithelial ureteric tree is critical for development of the permanent kidney (metanephros). Current methods of analysis of ureteric branching are mostly qualitative. We have developed a method for measuring the length of individual branches, and thereby the total length of the ureteric tree in 3 dimensions (3D). The method involves confocal microscopy of whole-mount immunostained metanephroi and computer-based image segmentation, skeletonisation and measurement. The algorithm performs semi-automatic segmentation of a set of confocal images and skeletonisation of the resulting binary object. Length measurements and number of branch points are automatically obtained. The final representation can be reconstructed providing a fully rotating 3D perspective of the skeletonised tree. After 36 h culture of E12 mouse metanephroi, the total length of the ureteric tree was 6103 +/- 291 microm (mean +/- SD), a four-fold increase compared with metanephroi cultured for just 6 h (1522 +/- 149 microm). Ureteric duct length increased at a rate of 153 microm/h over the first 30 h period and was maximal between 18 and 24 h at 325 microm/h. The distribution of branch lengths at the six time points studied was similar, suggesting tight control of ureteric lengthening and branching. This method will be of use in analysing ureteric growth in kidneys cultured in the presence of specific molecules suspected of regulating ureteric growth. The method can also be used to analyse in vivo kidneys and to quantify branching morphogenesis in other developing organs.

Algorithms↗