ImageJ macros for the user-friendly analysis of soft-agar and wound-healing assays

Abstract

Recent advances in biological imaging techniques and the enormous amount of data they generate call for the development of computational tools for efficient and reliable high-throughput analysis. Several software applications with this functionality are available, and one of the most commonly used is ImageJ. Here, we present two independent macros (WH_NJ and SA_NJ) for automating and facilitating the analysis of images acquired from two in vitro assays frequently used in cancer studies and drug screening: the wound-healing and soft-agar assays. These two algorithms combine, in a single command, the steps required for the individual analysis of each image using ImageJ. WH_NJ and SA_NJ allow fast, reproducible data analysis without the experimental bias inherent in manual analyses, thus guaranteeing the robustness and reliability of the results.