@article{FabigKiewiszLindowetal.2020, author = {Fabig, Gunar and Kiewisz, Robert and Lindow, Norbert and Powers, James A. and Cota, Vanessa and Quintanilla, Luis J. and Brugu{\´e}s, Jan and Prohaska, Steffen and Chu, Diana S. and M{\"u}ller-Reichert, Thomas}, title = {Sperm-specific meiotic chromosome segregation in C. elegans}, volume = {9}, journal = {eLife}, doi = {10.7554/eLife.50988}, pages = {e50988}, year = {2020}, language = {en} } @article{LindowBruenigDercksenetal.2020, author = {Lindow, Norbert and Br{\"u}nig, Florian and Dercksen, Vincent J. and Fabig, Gunar and Kiewisz, Robert and Redemann, Stefanie and M{\"u}ller-Reichert, Thomas and Prohaska, Steffen and Baum, Daniel}, title = {Semi-automatic stitching of filamentous structures in image stacks from serial-section electron tomography}, journal = {bioRxiv}, doi = {10.1101/2020.05.28.120899}, year = {2020}, abstract = {We present a software-assisted workflow for the alignment and matching of filamentous structures across a 3D stack of serial images. This is achieved by combining automatic methods, visual validation, and interactive correction. After an initial alignment, the user can continuously improve the result by interactively correcting landmarks or matches of filaments. Supported by a visual quality assessment of regions that have been already inspected, this allows a trade-off between quality and manual labor. The software tool was developed to investigate cell division by quantitative 3D analysis of microtubules (MTs) in both mitotic and meiotic spindles. For this, each spindle is cut into a series of semi-thick physical sections, of which electron tomograms are acquired. The serial tomograms are then stitched and non-rigidly aligned to allow tracing and connecting of MTs across tomogram boundaries. In practice, automatic stitching alone provides only an incomplete solution, because large physical distortions and a low signal-to-noise ratio often cause experimental difficulties. To derive 3D models of spindles despite the problems related to sample preparation and subsequent data collection, semi-automatic validation and correction is required to remove stitching mistakes. However, due to the large number of MTs in spindles (up to 30k) and their resulting dense spatial arrangement, a naive inspection of each MT is too time consuming. Furthermore, an interactive visualization of the full image stack is hampered by the size of the data (up to 100 GB). Here, we present a specialized, interactive, semi-automatic solution that considers all requirements for large-scale stitching of filamentous structures in serial-section image stacks. The key to our solution is a careful design of the visualization and interaction tools for each processing step to guarantee real-time response, and an optimized workflow that efficiently guides the user through datasets.}, language = {en} } @misc{LindowRedemannFabigetal.2018, author = {Lindow, Norbert and Redemann, Stefanie and Fabig, Gunar and M{\"u}ller-Reichert, Thomas and Prohaska, Steffen}, title = {Quantification of Three-Dimensional Spindle Architecture}, issn = {1438-0064}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-66562}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Mitotic and meiotic spindles are microtubule-based structures to faithfully segregate chromosomes. Electron tomography is currently the method of choice to analyze the three-dimensional architecture of both types of spindles. Over the years, we have developed methods and software for automatic segmentation and stitching of microtubules in serial sections for large-scale reconstructions. Three-dimensional reconstruction of microtubules, however, is only the first step towards biological insight. The second step is the analysis of the structural data to derive measurable spindle properties. Here, we present a comprehensive set of techniques to quantify spindle parameters. These techniques provide quantitative analyses of specific microtubule classes and are applicable to a variety of tomographic reconstructions of spindles from different organisms.}, language = {en} } @article{MahnkeArltBaumetal.2020, author = {Mahnke, Heinz-Eberhard and Arlt, Tobias and Baum, Daniel and Hege, Hans-Christian and Herter, Felix and Lindow, Norbert and Manke, Ingo and Siopi, Tzulia and Menei, Eve and Etienne, Marc and Lepper, Verena}, title = {Virtual unfolding of folded papyri}, volume = {41}, journal = {Journal of Cultural Heritage}, publisher = {Elsevier}, doi = {10.1016/j.culher.2019.07.007}, pages = {264 -- 269}, year = {2020}, abstract = {The historical importance of ancient manuscripts is unique since they provide information about the heritage of ancient cultures. Often texts are hidden in rolled or folded documents. Due to recent impro- vements in sensitivity and resolution, spectacular disclosures of rolled hidden texts were possible by X-ray tomography. However, revealing text on folded manuscripts is even more challenging. Manual unfolding is often too risky in view of the fragile condition of fragments, as it can lead to the total loss of the document. X-ray tomography allows for virtual unfolding and enables non-destructive access to hid- den texts. We have recently demonstrated the procedure and tested unfolding algorithms on a mockup sample. Here, we present results on unfolding ancient papyrus packages from the papyrus collection of the Mus{\´e}e du Louvre, among them objects folded along approximately orthogonal folding lines. In one of the packages, the first identification of a word was achieved, the Coptic word for "Lord".}, language = {en} } @misc{MahnkeArltBaumetal.2019, author = {Mahnke, Heinz-Eberhard and Arlt, Tobias and Baum, Daniel and Hege, Hans-Christian and Herter, Felix and Lindow, Norbert and Manke, Ingo and Siopi, Tzulia and Menei, Eve and Etienne, Marc and Lepper, Verena}, title = {Virtual unfolding of folded papyri}, issn = {1438-0064}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-74338}, year = {2019}, abstract = {The historical importance of ancient manuscripts is unique since they provide information about the heritage of ancient cultures. Often texts are hidden in rolled or folded documents. Due to recent impro- vements in sensitivity and resolution, spectacular disclosures of rolled hidden texts were possible by X-ray tomography. However, revealing text on folded manuscripts is even more challenging. Manual unfolding is often too risky in view of the fragile condition of fragments, as it can lead to the total loss of the document. X-ray tomography allows for virtual unfolding and enables non-destructive access to hid- den texts. We have recently demonstrated the procedure and tested unfolding algorithms on a mockup sample. Here, we present results on unfolding ancient papyrus packages from the papyrus collection of the Mus{\´e}e du Louvre, among them objects folded along approximately orthogonal folding lines. In one of the packages, the first identification of a word was achieved, the Coptic word for "Lord".}, language = {en} } @misc{LindowBruenigDercksenetal.2019, author = {Lindow, Norbert and Br{\"u}nig, Florian and Dercksen, Vincent J. and Fabig, Gunar and Kiewisz, Robert and Redemann, Stefanie and M{\"u}ller-Reichert, Thomas and Prohaska, Steffen}, title = {Semi-automatic Stitching of Serial Section Image Stacks with Filamentous Structures}, issn = {1438-0064}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-73739}, year = {2019}, abstract = {In this paper, we present a software-assisted workflow for the alignment and matching of filamentous structures across a stack of 3D serial image sections. This is achieved by a combination of automatic methods, visual validation, and interactive correction. After an initial alignment, the user can continuously improve the result by interactively correcting landmarks or matches of filaments. This is supported by a quality assessment that visualizes regions that have been already inspected and, thus, allows a trade-off between quality and manual labor. The software tool was developed in collaboration with biologists who investigate microtubule-based spindles during cell division. To quantitatively understand the structural organization of such spindles, a 3D reconstruction of the numerous microtubules is essential. Each spindle is cut into a series of semi-thick physical sections, of which electron tomograms are acquired. The sections then need to be stitched, i.e. non-rigidly aligned; and the microtubules need to be traced in each section and connected across section boundaries. Experiments led to the conclusion that automatic methods for stitching alone provide only an incomplete solution to practical analysis needs. Automatic methods may fail due to large physical distortions, a low signal-to-noise ratio of the images, or other unexpected experimental difficulties. In such situations, semi-automatic validation and correction is required to rescue as much information as possible to derive biologically meaningful results despite of some errors related to data collection. Since the correct stitching is visually not obvious due to the number of microtubules (up to 30k) and their dense spatial arrangement, these are difficult tasks. Furthermore, a naive inspection of each microtubule is too time consuming. In addition, interactive visualization is hampered by the size of the image data (up to 100 GB). Based on the requirements of our collaborators, we present a practical solution for the semi-automatic stitching of serial section image stacks with filamentous structures.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{KuhnLindowGuentheretal.2013, author = {Kuhn, Alexander and Lindow, Norbert and G{\"u}nther, Tobias and Wiebel, Alexander and Theisel, Holger and Hege, Hans-Christian}, title = {Trajectory Density Projection for Vector Field Visualization}, booktitle = {EuroVis 2013, short papers. M. Hlawitschka, Tino Weinkauf (eds.)}, doi = {10.2312/PE.EuroVisShort.EuroVisShort2013.031-035}, pages = {31 -- 35}, year = {2013}, language = {en} } @article{LindowBaumBondaretal.2013, author = {Lindow, Norbert and Baum, Daniel and Bondar, Ana-Nicoleta and Hege, Hans-Christian}, title = {Exploring cavity dynamics in biomolecular systems}, volume = {14}, journal = {BMC Bioinformatics}, edition = {(Suppl 19):S5}, doi = {10.1186/1471-2105-14-S19-S5}, year = {2013}, language = {en} } @article{LindowBaumHege2011, author = {Lindow, Norbert and Baum, Daniel and Hege, Hans-Christian}, title = {Voronoi-Based Extraction and Visualization of Molecular Paths}, volume = {17}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics}, number = {12}, doi = {10.1109/TVCG.2011.259}, pages = {2025 -- 2034}, year = {2011}, language = {en} } @article{LindowBaumHege2012, author = {Lindow, Norbert and Baum, Daniel and Hege, Hans-Christian}, title = {Interactive Rendering of Materials and Biological Structures on Atomic and Nanoscopic Scale}, volume = {31}, journal = {Computer Graphics Forum}, number = {3}, doi = {10.1111/j.1467-8659.2012.03128.x target}, pages = {1325 -- 1334}, year = {2012}, language = {en} } @article{LindowBaumProhaskaetal.2010, author = {Lindow, Norbert and Baum, Daniel and Prohaska, Steffen and Hege, Hans-Christian}, title = {Accelerated Visualization of Dynamic Molecular Surfaces}, volume = {29}, journal = {Comput. Graph. Forum}, doi = {10.1111/j.1467-8659.2009.01693.x}, pages = {943 -- 952}, year = {2010}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{LindowBaumBondaretal.2012, author = {Lindow, Norbert and Baum, Daniel and Bondar, Ana-Nicoleta and Hege, Hans-Christian}, title = {Dynamic Channels in Biomolecular Systems: Path Analysis and Visualization}, booktitle = {Proceedings of IEEE Symposium on Biological Data Visualization (biovis'12)}, doi = {10.1109/BioVis.2012.6378599}, pages = {99 -- 106}, year = {2012}, language = {en} } @article{LindowBaumHege2012, author = {Lindow, Norbert and Baum, Daniel and Hege, Hans-Christian}, title = {Perceptually Linear Parameter Variations}, volume = {31}, journal = {Computer Graphics Forum}, number = {2}, doi = {10.1111/j.1467-8659.2012.03054.x target}, pages = {535 -- 544}, year = {2012}, language = {en} } @misc{LindowBaumHege2014, author = {Lindow, Norbert and Baum, Daniel and Hege, Hans-Christian}, title = {Ligand Excluded Surface: A New Type of Molecular Surface}, issn = {1438-0064}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-51194}, year = {2014}, abstract = {The most popular molecular surface in molecular visualization is the solvent excluded surface (SES). It provides information about the accessibility of a biomolecule for a solvent molecule that is geometrically approximated by a sphere. During a period of almost four decades, the SES has served for many purposes - including visualization, analysis of molecular interactions and the study of cavities in molecular structures. However, if one is interested in the surface that is accessible to a molecule whose shape differs significantly from a sphere, a different concept is necessary. To address this problem, we generalize the definition of the SES by replacing the probe sphere with the full geometry of the ligand defined by the arrangement of its van der Waals spheres. We call the new surface ligand excluded surface (LES) and present an efficient, grid-based algorithm for its computation. Furthermore, we show that this algorithm can also be used to compute molecular cavities that could host the ligand molecule. We provide a detailed description of its implementation on CPU and GPU. Furthermore, we present a performance and convergence analysis and compare the LES for several molecules, using as ligands either water or small organic molecules.}, language = {en} } @article{LindowBaumHege2014, author = {Lindow, Norbert and Baum, Daniel and Hege, Hans-Christian}, title = {Ligand Excluded Surface: A New Type of Molecular Surface}, volume = {20}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics}, number = {12}, doi = {10.1109/TVCG.2014.2346404}, pages = {2486 -- 2495}, year = {2014}, abstract = {The most popular molecular surface in molecular visualization is the solvent excluded surface (SES). It provides information about the accessibility of a biomolecule for a solvent molecule that is geometrically approximated by a sphere. During a period of almost four decades, the SES has served for many purposes - including visualization, analysis of molecular interactions and the study of cavities in molecular structures. However, if one is interested in the surface that is accessible to a molecule whose shape differs significantly from a sphere, a different concept is necessary. To address this problem, we generalize the definition of the SES by replacing the probe sphere with the full geometry of the ligand defined by the arrangement of its van der Waals spheres. We call the new surface ligand excluded surface (LES) and present an efficient, grid-based algorithm for its computation. Furthermore, we show that this algorithm can also be used to compute molecular cavities that could host the ligand molecule. We provide a detailed description of its implementation on CPU and GPU. Furthermore, we present a performance and convergence analysis and compare the LES for several molecules, using as ligands either water or small organic molecules.}, language = {en} } @article{CourniaAllenAndricioaeietal.2015, author = {Cournia, Zoe and Allen, Toby W. and Andricioaei, Ioan and Antonny, Bruno and Baum, Daniel and Brannigan, Grace and Buchete, Nicolae-Viorel and Deckman, Jason T. and Delemotte, Lucie and del Val, Coral and Friedman, Ran and Gkeka, Paraskevi and Hege, Hans-Christian and H{\´e}nin, J{\´e}r{\^o}me and Kasimova, Marina A. and Kolocouris, Antonios and Klein, Michael L. and Khalid, Syma and Lemieux, Joanne and Lindow, Norbert and Roy, Mahua and Selent, Jana and Tarek, Mounir and Tofoleanu, Florentina and Vanni, Stefano and Urban, Sinisa and Wales, David J. and Smith, Jeremy C. and Bondar, Ana-Nicoleta}, title = {Membrane Protein Structure, Function and Dynamics: A Perspective from Experiments and Theory}, volume = {248}, journal = {Journal of Membrane Biology}, number = {4}, doi = {10.1007/s00232-015-9802-0}, pages = {611 -- 640}, year = {2015}, language = {en} } @article{MuecklichWebelAboulfadletal.2014, author = {M{\"u}cklich, Frank and Webel, Johannes and Aboulfadl, Hisham and Lindow, Norbert and Hege, Hans-Christian}, title = {Correlative Tomography - Extraction of Reliable Information with Adequate Resolution from mm Scale Down to Sub-nm Scale}, volume = {20}, journal = {Microsc. Microanal.}, number = {Suppl 3}, doi = {10.1017/S1431927614005911}, pages = {838 -- 839}, year = {2014}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Lindow2016, author = {Lindow, Norbert}, title = {Visual Analysis of Atomic Structures Based on the Hard-Sphere Model}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-63190}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Visualization and Analysis of atomic compositions is essential to understand the structure and functionality of molecules. There exist versatile areas of applications, from fundamental researches in biophysics and materials science to drug development in pharmaceutics. For most applications, the hard-sphere model is the most often used molecular model. Although the model is a quite simple approximation of reality, it enables investigating important physical properties in a purely geometrical manner. Furthermore, large data sets with thousands up to millions of atoms can be visualized and analyzed. In addition to an adequate and efficient visualization of the data, the extraction of important structures plays a major role. For the investigation of biomolecules, such as proteins, especially the analysis of cavities and their dynamics is of high interest. Substrates can bind in cavities, thereby inducing changes in the function of the protein. Another example is the transport of substrates through membrane proteins by the dynamics of the cavities. For both, the visualization as well as the analysis of cavities, the following contributions will be presented in this thesis: 1. The rendering of smooth molecular surfaces for the analysis of cavities is accelerated and visually improved, which allows showing dynamic proteins. On the other hand, techniques are proposed to interactively render large static biological structures and inorganic materials up to atomic resolution for the first time. 2. A Voronoi-based method is presented to extract molecular cavities. The procedure comes with a high geometrical accuracy by a comparatively fast computation time. Additionally, new methods are presented to visualize and highlight the cavities within the molecular structure. In a further step, the techniques are extended for dynamic molecular data to trace cavities over time and visualize topological changes. 3. To further improve the accuracy of the approaches mentioned above, a new molecular surface model is presented that shows the accessibility of a substrate. For the first time, the structure and dynamics of the substrate as hard-sphere model is considered for the accessibility computation. In addition to the definition of the surface, an efficient algorithm for its computation is proposed, which additionally allows extracting cavities. The presented algorithms are demonstrated on different molecular data sets. The data sets are either the result of physical or biological experiments or molecular dynamics simulations.}, language = {en} } @article{KozlikovaKroneFalketal.2016, author = {Kozl{\´i}kov{\´a}, Barbora and Krone, Michael and Falk, Martin and Lindow, Norbert and Baaden, Marc and Baum, Daniel and Viola, Ivan and Parulek, Julius and Hege, Hans-Christian}, title = {Visualization of Biomolecular Structures: State of the Art Revisited}, volume = {36}, journal = {Computer Graphics Forum}, number = {8}, doi = {10.1111/cgf.13072}, pages = {178 -- 204}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Structural properties of molecules are of primary concern in many fields. This report provides a comprehensive overview on techniques that have been developed in the fields of molecular graphics and visualization with a focus on applications in structural biology. The field heavily relies on computerized geometric and visual representations of three-dimensional, complex, large and time-varying molecular structures. The report presents a taxonomy that demonstrates which areas of molecular visualization have already been extensively investigated and where the field is currently heading. It discusses visualizations for molecular structures, strategies for efficient display regarding image quality and frame rate, covers different aspects of level of detail and reviews visualizations illustrating the dynamic aspects of molecular simulation data. The survey concludes with an outlook on promising and important research topics to foster further success in the development of tools that help to reveal molecular secrets.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{ArltLindowBaumetal.2016, author = {Arlt, Tobias and Lindow, Norbert and Baum, Daniel and Hilger, Andre and Mahnke, Ingo and Hege, Hans-Christian and Lepper, Verena and Siopi, Tzulia and Mahnke, Heinz.Eberhard}, title = {Virtual Access to Hidden Texts - Study of Ancient Papyri}, booktitle = {Eighth Joint BER II and BESSY II User Meeting, Dec 7-9, 2016, Berlin, Germany}, year = {2016}, abstract = {When physical unfolding/unrolling of papyri is not possible or too dangerous for preserving the precious object, tomographic approaches may be the ap- propriate alternative. Requirements are the resolution and the contrast to distinguish writing and substrate. The steps to be performed are the following: (1) Select the object of interest (archaeological arguments, cultural back- ground of the object, etc.). (2) Find the proper physical procedure, especially with respect to contrast, take the tomographic data, e.g. by absorption x-ray tomography. (3) Apply mathematical unfolding transformations to the tomographic data, in order to obtain a 2d-planar reconstruction of text.}, language = {en} } @article{RedemannBaumgartLindowetal.2017, author = {Redemann, Stefanie and Baumgart, Johannes and Lindow, Norbert and Shelley, Michael and Nazockdast, Ehssan and Kratz, Andrea and Prohaska, Steffen and Brugu{\´e}s, Jan and F{\"u}rthauer, Sebastian and M{\"u}ller-Reichert, Thomas}, title = {C. elegans chromosomes connect to centrosomes by anchoring into the spindle network}, volume = {8}, journal = {Nature Communications}, number = {15288}, doi = {10.1038/ncomms15288}, year = {2017}, abstract = {The mitotic spindle ensures the faithful segregation of chromosomes. Here we combine the first large-scale serial electron tomography of whole mitotic spindles in early C. elegans embryos with live-cell imaging to reconstruct all microtubules in 3D and identify their plus- and minus-ends. We classify them as kinetochore (KMTs), spindle (SMTs) or astral microtubules (AMTs) according to their positions, and quantify distinct properties of each class. While our light microscopy and mutant studies show that microtubules are nucleated from the centrosomes, we find only a few KMTs directly connected to the centrosomes. Indeed, by quantitatively analysing several models of microtubule growth, we conclude that minus-ends of KMTs have selectively detached and depolymerized from the centrosome. In toto, our results show that the connection between centrosomes and chromosomes is mediated by an anchoring into the entire spindle network and that any direct connections through KMTs are few and likely very transient.}, language = {en} } @misc{KozlikovaKroneFalketal.2015, author = {Kozlikova, Barbora and Krone, Michael and Falk, Martin and Lindow, Norbert and Baaden, Marc and Baum, Daniel and Viola, Ivan and Parulek, Julius and Hege, Hans-Christian}, title = {Visualization of Biomolecular Structures: State of the Art}, issn = {1438-0064}, doi = {10.2312/eurovisstar.20151112}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-57217}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Structural properties of molecules are of primary concern in many fields. This report provides a comprehensive overview on techniques that have been developed in the fields of molecular graphics and visualization with a focus on applications in structural biology. The field heavily relies on computerized geometric and visual representations of three-dimensional, complex, large, and time-varying molecular structures. The report presents a taxonomy that demonstrates which areas of molecular visualization have already been extensively investigated and where the field is currently heading. It discusses visualizations for molecular structures, strategies for efficient display regarding image quality and frame rate, covers different aspects of level of detail, and reviews visualizations illustrating the dynamic aspects of molecular simulation data. The survey concludes with an outlook on promising and important research topics to foster further success in the development of tools that help to reveal molecular secrets.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{KozlikovaKroneLindowetal.2015, author = {Kozlikova, Barbora and Krone, Michael and Lindow, Norbert and Falk, Martin and Baaden, Marc and Baum, Daniel and Viola, Ivan and Parulek, Julius and Hege, Hans-Christian}, title = {Visualization of Biomolecular Structures: State of the Art}, booktitle = {EuroVis 2015 STARS Proceedings}, doi = {10.2312/eurovisstar.20151112}, pages = {61 -- 81}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Structural properties of molecules are of primary concern in many fields. This report provides a comprehensive overview on techniques that have been developed in the fields of molecular graphics and visualization with a focus on applications in structural biology. The field heavily relies on computerized geometric and visual representations of three-dimensional, complex, large, and time-varying molecular structures. The report presents a taxonomy that demonstrates which areas of molecular visualization have already been extensively investigated and where the field is currently heading. It discusses visualizations for molecular structures, strategies for efficient display regarding image quality and frame rate, covers different aspects of level of detail, and reviews visualizations illustrating the dynamic aspects of molecular simulation data. The report concludes with an outlook on promising and important research topics to enable further success in advancing the knowledge about interaction of molecular structures.}, language = {en} } @article{LindowBruenigDercksenetal.2021, author = {Lindow, Norbert and Br{\"u}nig, Florian and Dercksen, Vincent J. and Fabig, Gunar and Kiewisz, Robert and Redemann, Stefanie and M{\"u}ller-Reichert, Thomas and Prohaska, Steffen and Baum, Daniel}, title = {Semi-automatic stitching of filamentous structures in image stacks from serial-section electron tomography}, volume = {284}, journal = {Journal of Microscopy}, number = {1}, doi = {10.1111/jmi.13039}, pages = {25 -- 44}, year = {2021}, abstract = {We present a software-assisted workflow for the alignment and matching of filamentous structures across a three-dimensional (3D) stack of serial images. This is achieved by combining automatic methods, visual validation, and interactive correction. After the computation of an initial automatic matching, the user can continuously improve the result by interactively correcting landmarks or matches of filaments. Supported by a visual quality assessment of regions that have been already inspected, this allows a trade-off between quality and manual labor. The software tool was developed in an interdisciplinary collaboration between computer scientists and cell biologists to investigate cell division by quantitative 3D analysis of microtubules (MTs) in both mitotic and meiotic spindles. For this, each spindle is cut into a series of semi-thick physical sections, of which electron tomograms are acquired. The serial tomograms are then stitched and non-rigidly aligned to allow tracing and connecting of MTs across tomogram boundaries. In practice, automatic stitching alone provides only an incomplete solution, because large physical distortions and a low signal-to-noise ratio often cause experimental difficulties. To derive 3D models of spindles despite dealing with imperfect data related to sample preparation and subsequent data collection, semi-automatic validation and correction is required to remove stitching mistakes. However, due to the large number of MTs in spindles (up to 30k) and their resulting dense spatial arrangement, a naive inspection of each MT is too time-consuming. Furthermore, an interactive visualization of the full image stack is hampered by the size of the data (up to 100 GB). Here, we present a specialized, interactive, semi-automatic solution that considers all requirements for large-scale stitching of filamentous structures in serial-section image stacks. To the best of our knowledge, it is the only currently available tool which is able to process data of the type and size presented here. The key to our solution is a careful design of the visualization and interaction tools for each processing step to guarantee real-time response, and an optimized workflow that efficiently guides the user through datasets. The final solution presented here is the result of an iterative process with tight feedback loops between the involved computer scientists and cell biologists.}, language = {en} } @article{LantzschYuChenetal.2021, author = {Lantzsch, Ina and Yu, Che-Hang and Chen, Yu-Zen and Zimyanin, Vitaly and Yazdkhasti, Hossein and Lindow, Norbert and Szentgyoergyi, Erik and Pani, Ariel M and Prohaska, Steffen and Srayko, Martin and F{\"u}rthauer, Sebastian and Redemann, Stefanie}, title = {Microtubule reorganization during female meiosis in C. elegans}, volume = {10}, journal = {eLife}, doi = {10.7554/eLife.58903}, pages = {e58903}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Most female meiotic spindles undergo striking morphological changes while transitioning from metaphase to anaphase. The ultra-structure of meiotic spindles, and how changes to this structure correlate with such dramatic spindle rearrangements remains largely unknown. To address this, we applied light microscopy, large-scale electron tomography and mathematical modeling of female meiotic \textit{Caenorhabditis elegans} spindles. Combining these approaches, we find that meiotic spindles are dynamic arrays of short microtubules that turn over within seconds. The results show that the metaphase to anaphase transition correlates with an increase in microtubule numbers and a decrease in their average length. Detailed analysis of the tomographic data revealed that the microtubule length changes significantly during the metaphase-to-anaphase transition. This effect is most pronounced for microtubules located within 150 nm of the chromosome surface. To understand the mechanisms that drive this transition, we developed a mathematical model for the microtubule length distribution that considers microtubule growth, catastrophe, and severing. Using Bayesian inference to compare model predictions and data, we find that microtubule turn-over is the major driver of the spindle reorganizations. Our data suggest that in metaphase only a minor fraction of microtubules, those closest to the chromosomes, are severed. The large majority of microtubules, which are not in close contact with chromosomes, do not undergo severing. Instead, their length distribution is fully explained by growth and catastrophe. This suggests that the most prominent drivers of spindle rearrangements are changes in nucleation and catastrophe rate. In addition, we provide evidence that microtubule severing is dependent on katanin.}, language = {en} }