Prediction of potential locations of focal adhesions on the contour of adherent cells

Focal adhesions (FA) play a dominant role in determining adherent cell morphology. This is particularly true for FA close to the cell contour on a two-dimensional substrate, since they are required for stabilization of the elastic cell membrane protrusions. The identification of these FA yields valuable information about the shape and the general state of the cell. In the current paper, we present a new method that does not require FA staining - the method predicts FA locations based on cell contour morphology. Our method, which we term comparative Hough transform (CHT), derives from the linear Hough transform and offers a novel approach in identifying significant loci on the contour, where the lateral cell contour edges meet at a cusp.