Measuring lymphocyte proliferation
Measuring lymphocyte proliferation, survival and differentiation using CFSE time series data
If you label a cell with CFSE then you can tell how many times it has divided since it was labelled. This quantity is called its division. For example cells which have not divided are said to be in division 0, those which have divided once, division 1 and so on. If you CFSE label a population of cells then you can measure how they are distributed between different divisions. If you repeat this experiment at different times then you can measure the distribution as a function of both division and time. From this data it is possible to work backwards and estimate the underlying statistical properties of the cells. This page explains two methods for doing so.
The Precursor Cohort Method
The precursor cohort method is a graphical method requiring no special software that can be used to determine the parameters of a simplified model of cell proliferation.
Download the Precursor cohort method and accompanying material here.
Cyton Calculator
The cyton model gives better agreement with CFSE data than the cohort method above. However, it is a more complicated model and so it is not possible to determine its parameters using graphical techniques.
Download the "Cyton Calculator" tool and accompanying material here.