Offering the high spectral resolution of conventional Raman spectroscopy combined with reduced acquisition time, multiplex coherent anti-Stokes scattering (MCARS) microspectroscopy using sub-nanosecond laser pulses has been accepted as a mature and straightforward technology for label-free bioimaging. In recently published paper, Philippe Leproux associates have introduced combination MCARS ima...

This Personal Account highlights the capabilities of spontaneous Raman microspectroscopy for studying fundamental biological processes in a single living cell. Raman microspectroscopy provides time- and space-resolved vibrational Raman spectra that contain detailed information on the structure and dynamics of biomolecules in a cell. By using yeast as a model system, we have made great progress ...

In recent years, the Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy is often applied in studies of biological materials on cellular level. Undoubted advantage of this method is high sensitivity. In presented research the FTIR microspectroscopy was used to analyse the DNA damage in single PC-3 cells (prostate cancer cell line derived from bone metastases) irradiated by counted number of protons. Focu...

Bacteria predominantly grow as biofilms attached to liquid or solid interfaces. Biofilms are complex structures that contain bacterial cells interwoven in an extracellular polysaccharide matrix. The protein, lipid and polysaccharide molecules within a biofilm contain characteristic functional groups which can be identified and mapped using infrared microspectroscopy. The objective of this study...

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy shows potential as a benign, objective and rapid tool to screen pluripotent and multipotent stem cells for clinical use. It offers a new experimental approach that provides a holistic measurement of macromolecular composition such that a signature representing the internal cellular phenotype is obtained. The use of this technique therefore con...

We propose a method of driving the vibrations of normal modes of a target molecule into coherence using stimulated Raman scattering. In concert many vibrations can produce a larger anti-Stokes signal than a single vibration. The same illumination does not drive other molecules to have coherent vibrations so that these molecules produce a weaker signal. We investigate how target and confounder m...

Combining the molecular specificity of the infrared spectral region with high resolution microscopy has been pursued by researchers for decades. Here we demonstrate infrared supercontinuum radiated from an optical fiber as a promising new light source for infrared microspectroscopy. The supercontinuum light source has a high brightness and spans the infrared region from 1400 nm to 4000 nm. This...