Photon counts statistics in leukocyte cell dynamics

In the present experiment ultra-weak photon emission/ chemiluminescence from isolated neutrophils was recorded. It is associated with the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the “respiratory burst” process which can be activated by PMA (Phorbol 12-Myristate 13-Acetate). Commonly, the reaction is demonstrated utilizing the enhancer luminol. However, with the use of highly sensitive photomultiplier equipment it is also recorded without enhancer. In that case, it can be hypothesized that photon count statistics may assist in understanding the underlying metabolic activity and cooperation of these cells. To study this hypothesis leukocytes were stimulated with PMA and increased photon signals were recorded in the quasi stable period utilizing Fano factor analysis at different window sizes. The Fano factor is defined by the variance over the mean of the number of photon within the observation time. The analysis demonstrated that the Fano factor of true signal and not of the surrogate signals obtained by random shuffling increases when the window size increased. It is concluded that photon count statistics, in particular Fano factor analysis, provides information regarding leukocyte interactions. It opens the perspective to utilize this analytical procedure in (in vivo) inflammation research. However, this needs further validation.