BioTechniques (Apr 2017)

ImageJ macros for the user-friendly analysis of soft-agar and wound-healing assays

  • João Paulo Silva Nunes,
  • Adriana Abalen Martins Dias

DOI
https://doi.org/10.2144/000114535
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 62, no. 4
pp. 175 – 179

Abstract

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Recent advances in biological imaging techniques and the enormous amount of data they generate call for the development of computational tools for efficient and reliable high-throughput analysis. Several software applications with this functionality are available, and one of the most commonly used is ImageJ. Here, we present two independent macros (WH_NJ and SA_NJ) for automating and facilitating the analysis of images acquired from two in vitro assays frequently used in cancer studies and drug screening: the wound-healing and soft-agar assays. These two algorithms combine, in a single command, the steps required for the individual analysis of each image using ImageJ. WH_NJ and SA_NJ allow fast, reproducible data analysis without the experimental bias inherent in manual analyses, thus guaranteeing the robustness and reliability of the results.

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