Credit: the authors/University of Queensland
Key points:
- Researchers built an algorithm inspired by a video game to gain insights into the behavior of molecules within live brain cells.
- Until now, technology has only been able to detect and analyze molecules in space, not how they behave in space and time.
- Data on how molecules perform critical functions within brain cells can lead to better aging and disease treatments.
Scientists use super-resolution microscopy to look into live brain cells and detect and analyze molecules within them. But the technology does not tell scientists how the molecules behave in space and time.
Researchers from the University of Queensland solved that problem with inspiration from an unexpected source—video games.
The team used an algorithm from a video game to observe how molecules in live brain cells move in space and time, giving order to a seemingly chaotic environment.
“Combat video games use a very fast algorithm to track the trajectory of bullets to ensure the correct target is hit on the [virtual] battlefield at the right time,” said study author Tristan Wallis, who developed the idea while in COVID-19 lockdown. “We thought a similar algorithm could be used to analyze tracked molecules moving within a brain cell.”
Wallis and team used coding tools to build a new algorithm that can observe molecules clustering together—which ones, when, where, for how long and how often.
“This gives us new information about how molecules perform critical functions within brain cells and how these functions can be disrupted during ageing and disease,” said Wallis.
Study co-author Frederic Meunier said it was gratifying to see the effect of a simple idea.
“We used our creativity to solve a research challenge by merging two unrelated high-tech worlds—video games and super-resolution microscopy,” said Meunier. “It has brought us to a new frontier in neuroscience.”
The researchers are already using the technology to gather valuable evidence about proteins, including Syntaxin-1A, which is essential for communication within brain cells. Other Queensland research teams are also using it in their labs, applying it to different scenarios and questions.