Figure 5

Nearest neighbor analysis of staurosporine-incubated cells. Nearest neighbor analysis characterizes distribution as clustered (R = 0), random (R = 1) or hexagonal (R = 2.15). This analysis was employed to assess if induction of apoptosis through staurosporine-exposure causes changes in cell distribution in culture. The R-values of the staurosporine-group were significantly higher than 1 (P < 0.001), indicating that cells under both conditions were not completely randomly spaced. However, the staurosporine-incubated group also had a significantly lower R-value compared to control, demonstrating that activation of apoptosis causes more uneven cell spacing. Error bars represent standard deviation.