cytoNet: Network Analysis of Cell Communities

We introduce cytoNet, a method to characterize multicellular topology from microscopy images. Accessible over the web, cytoNet quantifies the spatial relationships in cell communities using principles of graph theory, and evaluates the effect of cell-cell interactions on individual cell phenotypes. We demonstrate cytoNets capabilities in two applications relevant to regenerative medicine: quantifying the morphological response of endothelial cells to neurotrophic factors present in the brain after injury, and characterizing cell cycle dynamics of differentiating neural progenitor cells. The framework introduced here can be used to study complex cell communities in a quantitative manner, leading to a deeper understanding of environmental effects on cellular behavior.