Objet : Complex diffusion analysis challenge mailing list

Description : Mailing list related to the organization and participation to the "Complex diffusion analysis challenge 2019", organized by the CNRS GdR ImaBio.

Different fluorescence imaging techniques have emerged to study (macro)molecular dynamics in the living cell. Among them, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) and single-particle tracking (SPT) have proven to be instrumental to our understanding of cell dynamics and function down to the molecular level.

Beyond insights on the biochemistry of the cell, these techniques have also unraveled an unforeseen complexity and diversity of mechanisms of protein diffusion. Many efforts have been devoted to analyze datasets generated by FCS or SPT, ranging from diffusion coefficient estimations to inference approaches. Among this array of algorithms, choosing the appropriate software for a given biological question can be challenging. Indeed, the richness of experimental data often makes it difficult to determine which are the models to be considered and the relevant biophysical parameters to be estimated.

Our goal is to foster the development of new state-of-the-art analysis algorithms. We aim at providing a unified data benchmark based on a set of biologically and physically relevant metrics in order to compare the diffusion analysis software available for the community. Following an international call, we will provide researchers from the fields of image analysis, statistics and machine learning with a series of computer-generated datasets emulating realistic acquisitions produced by the single-molecule imaging and correlation spectroscopy communities. Part of this reference dataset will disclose the generating model and parameters used to generate the trajectory, to be used as training set. The performance of trajectory analysis algorithms will be quantified based on their ability to correctly infer the model used to generate a set of unlabeled trajectories (test set).

With this challenge, we hope to provide the molecular imaging community with a comprehensive set of data and metrics allowing to objectively evaluate existing and new analysis tools, as well as instigating an open discussion about the limitations and challenges of analyzing and modeling diffusion of molecules in the complex environment of the cell.