ECE2024 Rapid Communications Rapid Communications 12: Diabetes, Obesity, Metabolism and Nutrition | Part II (5 abstracts)
1Oregon National Primate Research Center, Beaverton, United States; 2California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States; 3UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, United States; 4Mayo Clinic, Rochester, United States; 5Oregon Health and Science University, Oregon Primate Research Center, Beaverton, United States
The pathological expansion of white adipose tissue (WAT) in obesity involves adipocyte hypertrophy accompanied by expansion of collagen-rich pericellular extracellular matrix (ECM) and the development of crown-like structures (CLS). Traditionally, WAT morphology is assessed through immunohistochemical analysis of WAT sections. However, manual analysis of large histological sections is time-consuming, and available digital tools for analyzing adipocyte size and pericellular ECM are limited. To address this gap, we developed the Adipose Tissue Analysis Toolkit (ATAT), an ImageJ plmgin facilitating analysis of adipocyte size, WAT ECM and CLS. ATAT utilizes local and image-level differentials in pixel intensity to independently threshold background, distinguishing adipocyte-free tissue without user input. It accurately captures adipocytes in histological sections stained with common dyes and automates the analysis of adipocyte cross-sectional area, total-field, and localized region-of-interest ECM. ATAT allows fully automated batch analysis of histological images using default or user-defined adipocyte detection parameters. ATAT provides several advantages over existing WAT image analysis tools, enabling high-throughput analyses of adipocyte-specific parameters and facilitating the assessment of ECM changes associated with WAT remodeling due to weight changes and other pathophysiological alterations that affect WAT function.