Journal: Frontiers in Endocrinology
Article Title: CU Cilia – an application for image analysis by machine learning – reveals significance of cysteine cathepsin K activity for primary cilia of human thyroid epithelial cells
doi: 10.3389/fendo.2025.1588394
Figure Lengend Snippet: Elongation and thinning of primary cilia extending from human thyroid epithelial cells upon treatment with general cysteine peptidase and cathepsin K-specific inhibitors for 24 h as revealed by advanced CU Cilia analyses. (A) Bar charts and box plots comparing the areas of primary cilia (a1) , major axis length (a2) , minor axis length (a3) , cilia perimeters (a4) , cilia skeleton lengths (a5) , mean distances of cilia to nearest center of mass (a6) or to nuclei boundaries (a7) as well as form factor (a8) or eccentricity of primary cilia (a9) as revealed by CU Cilia. Images (n=6) of DMSO-treated controls or Nthy-ori 3–1 cell cultures treated for 24 h with broad-spectrum or specific inhibitors of cathepsin B, cathepsin K, or cathepsin L, respectively, were analyzed and data is denoted as indicated. Mean values ± standard deviations are displayed in the bar charts with individual data indicated by circles or dots (a1–a5, a8–a9) , while box plots are displayed in a6 and a7 . Statistical analysis was conducted by Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn’s multiple comparisons tests; levels of significance are indicated as ** for p<0.01, *** for p<0.001, and **** for p<0.0001. Cilia elongation (a2, a4, a5) and cilia thinning (a3) was observed upon treatment with CA074me, E46d and Odanacatib for 24 h, while more elliptic cilia were observed in E64d- and Odanacatib-treated Nthy-ori 3–1 cells, only (a8, a9) . (B) Output images generated by CU Cilia consisting of merged channel confocal laser scanning micrographs depicting ARL13B-positive primary cilia ( B , white) and Draq5™-stained nuclei ( B , blue) with identified objects boxed ( B , orange) and object sizes indicated in white font (B) of Nthy-ori 3–1 control cell cultures. Schematic drawing summarizing the advanced features of CU Cilia measurements.
Article Snippet: However, in this study, cell cultures were incubated for 1 h and 24 h with 10 μM E64d (#BML-PI107, Enzo Life Sciences, Lörrach, Germany) for broad-spectrum inhibition of cysteine peptidase activities and with cysteine cathepsin B-, K-, and L-specific inhibitors, namely, 10 μM CA074 me (#BML-PI126, Enzo Life Sciences, Lörrach, Germany), 10 μM Odanacatib (#S1115, Selleck Chemicals GmbH, Cologne, Germany), and 10 μM cathepsin L inhibitor III (#219427, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany), respectively.
Techniques: Generated, Staining, Control