Mapping Cell Morphology to a Standard Coordinate System for Analyzing Dynamic Cell Signaling

Cell shape influences spatial signal distribution and serves as a key non-genetic regulatory mechanism of cell behavior. A global shape change, from a round to a flat shape, amplify concentration everywhere in the cell volume. Meanwhile, high-curvature protrusions can diffusion trap, locally amplifying, or limiting concentrations. Unfortunately, cell shape is heterogeneous, varying significantly across different cells and changing over time in a single cell. Consequently, a key challenge is measuring the local molecular signal everywhere in the cell in a manner that enables comparative analyses of signal distribution across cells and over time. Here, we developed methods to bijectively map general 2D cell shapes to a 2D disk. Using a diverse shape dataset (Cellpose), we validate that our method facilitates constructing a regular grid or windows to completely sample the signal within arbitrary cell shapes. We apply our mapping to uncover novel correlations between the cell interior and boundary Cdc42 signal distribution with the cell edge dynamics of a migrating neutrophil with pronounced shape changes.