Swain R J, Stevens M M
Department of Materials, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
Biochem Soc Trans. 2007 Jun;35(Pt 3):544-9. doi: 10.1042/BST0350544.
Recent developments in biomedical vibrational spectroscopy now permit the non-invasive imaging of cells and tissues within both the laboratory and clinical settings. The rapid nature and diagnostic potential of both Raman and FTIR (Fourier-transform IR) spectroscopy have resulted in their widespread application to a number of biological fields including fundamental cell biology, medical imaging, tissue engineering and pharmacology. In particular, Raman microspectroscopy shows tremendous promise for the analysis of biological processes within living cells, such as cell cycle dynamics, cell differentiation and cell death. Unlike conventional biological assays, laser-based Raman spectroscopy enables rapid and non-invasive biochemical analysis of cells in the absence of fixatives or labels. The low Raman signal of cell culture buffer/media permits the rapid monitoring of living cells growing under standard cell culture conditions. The Raman spectrum of a cell is a biochemical 'fingerprint', containing molecular-level information about all biopolymers contained within the cell. The high information content of Raman spectra can be used to characterize the distribution of multiple cellular components, and to study the dynamics of subcellular reactions, with excellent spatial resolution. This review highlights recent developments in Raman microspectroscopy, with a focus on non-invasive biochemical analysis of single living cells.
生物医学振动光谱学的最新进展使得在实验室和临床环境中对细胞和组织进行无创成像成为可能。拉曼光谱和傅里叶变换红外光谱（FTIR）的快速特性和诊断潜力使其在包括基础细胞生物学、医学成像、组织工程和药理学在内的多个生物学领域得到了广泛应用。特别是，拉曼显微光谱学在分析活细胞内的生物过程，如细胞周期动态、细胞分化和细胞死亡方面显示出巨大的前景。与传统的生物学检测方法不同，基于激光的拉曼光谱学能够在不使用固定剂或标记物的情况下对细胞进行快速、无创的生化分析。细胞培养缓冲液/培养基的低拉曼信号使得在标准细胞培养条件下生长的活细胞能够被快速监测。细胞的拉曼光谱是一种生化“指纹”，包含了细胞内所有生物聚合物的分子水平信息。拉曼光谱的高信息含量可用于表征多种细胞成分的分布，并以优异的空间分辨率研究亚细胞反应的动力学。本综述重点介绍了拉曼显微光谱学的最新进展，尤其关注对单个活细胞的无创生化分析。
