Fractional Proliferation: A method to deconvolve cell population dynamics from single-cell data

We present an integrated method that exploits extended time-lapse automated imaging to quantify dynamics of cell proliferation. Cell counts are fit with a Quiescence-Growth model that estimates rates of cell division, entry into quiescence and death. The model is constrained with rates extracted experimentally from the behavior of tracked single cells over time. We visualize the output of the analysis in Fractional Proliferation graphs, which deconvolve dynamic proliferative responses to perturbations into the relative contributions of dividing, quiescent (non-dividing) and dead cells. The method reveals that the response of “oncogene-addicted” human cancer cells to tyrosine kinase inhibitors is a composite of altered rates of division, death and entry into quiescence, challenging the notion that such cells simply ‘die’ in response to oncogene-targeted therapy.