Breaking the bottleneck: semi-automated quantification of actin filament dynamics

SMAUG enables semi-automated, individual-filament quantification of actin dynamics in TIRF reconstitution assays, reproducing manual measurements while reducing analysis time.

• Why it matters: Quantitative analysis of actin filament assembly and organization from TIRF images is slow, labor-intensive, and can be biased by investigators, limiting throughput and consistency.
• What they did: The SMAUG GUI extends TSOAX segmentation and tracking with user-verified trace analysis, producing kymographs and measuring nucleation, elongation, pausing, junctions, and filament-associated fluorescence.
• The result: Across concentration-dependent polymerization, formin elongation, capping arrest, Arp2/3 branching, and fascin bundling, SMAUG matches manual results and shows that dense networks and bundled filaments need user validation.

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