Automated morphometric analysis with SMorph software reveals plasticity induced by antidepressant therapy in hippocampal astrocytes

Nervous system development and plasticity involve changes in cellular morphology, making morphological analysis a valuable exercise in the study of nervous system development, function and disease. Morphological analysis is a time-consuming exercise requiring meticulous manual tracing of cellular contours and extensions. We have developed a software tool, called SMorph, to rapidly analyze the morphology of cells of the nervous system. SMorph performs completely automated Sholl analysis. It extracts 23 morphometric features based on cell images and Sholl analysis parameters, followed by principal component analysis (PCA). SMorph was tested on neurons, astrocytes and microglia and reveals subtle changes in cell morphology. Using SMorph, we found that chronic 21-day treatment with the antidepressant desipramine results in a significant structural remodeling in hippocampal astrocytes in mice. Given the proposed involvement of astroglial structural changes and atrophy in major depression in humans, our results reveal a novel kind of structural plasticity induced by chronic antidepressant administration.

Automated summary

Development and plasticity of the nervous system involve changes in cellular morphology. Researchers have developed a software tool called SMorph to analyze the morphology of nervous system cells quickly and automatically. SMorph was tested on neurons, astrocytes, and microglia, revealing subtle changes in cell morphology and showing structural remodeling in hippocampal astrocytes after chronic antidepressant treatment.