Muñoz-Gil Gorka, Bachimanchi Harshith, Pineda Jesús, Midtvedt Benjamin, Fernández-Fernández Gabriel, Requena Borja, Ahsini Yusef, Asghar Solomon, Bae Jaeyong, Barrantes Francisco J, Bender Steen W B, Cabriel Clément, Conejero J Alberto, Escoto Marc, Feng Xiaochen, Haidari Rasched, Hatzakis Nikos S, Huang Zihan, Izeddin Ignacio, Jeong Hawoong, Jiang Yuan, Kæstel-Hansen Jacob, Miné-Hattab Judith, Ni Ran, Park Junwoo, Qu Xiang, Saavedra Lucas A, Sha Hao, Sokolovska Nataliya, Zhang Yongbing, Volpe Giorgio, Lewenstein Maciej, Metzler Ralf, Krapf Diego, Volpe Giovanni, Manzo Carlo
Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
Department of Physics, University of Gothenburg, Origovägen 6B, SE-41296, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Nat Commun. 2025 Jul 22;16(1):6749. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-61949-x.
The analysis of live-cell single-molecule imaging experiments can reveal valuable information about the heterogeneity of transport processes and interactions between cell components. These characteristics are seen as motion changes in the particle trajectories. Despite the existence of multiple approaches to carry out this type of analysis, no objective assessment of these methods has been performed so far. Here, we report the results of a competition to characterize and rank the performance of these methods when analyzing the dynamic behavior of single molecules. To run this competition, we implemented a software library that simulates realistic data corresponding to widespread diffusion and interaction models, both in the form of trajectories and videos obtained in typical experimental conditions. The competition constitutes the first assessment of these methods, providing insights into the current limitations of the field, fostering the development of new approaches, and guiding researchers to identify optimal tools for analyzing their experiments.
活细胞单分子成像实验的分析能够揭示有关转运过程的异质性以及细胞组分间相互作用的宝贵信息。这些特征表现为粒子轨迹中的运动变化。尽管存在多种进行此类分析的方法，但迄今为止尚未对这些方法进行客观评估。在此，我们报告了一项竞赛的结果，该竞赛旨在对这些方法在分析单分子动态行为时的性能进行表征和排名。为了开展这项竞赛，我们实现了一个软件库，该软件库模拟与广泛的扩散和相互作用模型相对应的逼真数据，这些数据以典型实验条件下获得的轨迹和视频的形式呈现。该竞赛构成了对这些方法的首次评估，为该领域当前的局限性提供了见解，促进了新方法的开发，并指导研究人员识别用于分析其实验的最佳工具。
