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Functional Plasmonic Microscope: Characterizing the Metabolic Activity of Single Cells via Sub-nm Membrane
Suraj D Khochare1, Xiaoliang Li1, Xu Yang1
1Advanced Imaging and Sensing Lab, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204, United States.
Analytical Chemistry
|April 2, 2024
Summary
A new functional plasmonic microscope (FPM) images single-cell metabolic activity without labels by measuring membrane fluctuations. This technology reveals metabolic heterogeneity and evaluates drug responses, aiding in disease and drug discovery research.
Area of Science:
- Biophysics
- Cell Biology
- Microscopy
Background:
- Metabolic abnormalities are central to many diseases.
- Understanding single-cell metabolic heterogeneity is crucial for disease research.
- Current methods often require fluorescent labels, limiting applications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce a label-free functional plasmonic microscope (FPM) for imaging and quantifying single-cell metabolic activity.
- To demonstrate FPM's capability in analyzing cell membrane dynamics and metabolic heterogeneity.
- To showcase FPM's utility in evaluating drug responses at the single-cell level.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a functional plasmonic microscope (FPM) to image and quantify subnanometer cell membrane fluctuations in real time.
- Achieved a spatial resolution of 0.5 μm for detailed membrane characterization.
- Reconstructed 3D morphology of cell membranes and analyzed membrane fluctuations in HeLa cells.
Main Results:
- FPM accurately imaged and quantified metabolic activities via cell membrane fluctuations without fluorescent labels.
- Demonstrated significant cell metabolic heterogeneity based on individual cell membrane fluctuation analysis.
- Showcased FPM's ability to evaluate the dose-dependent effects of a glycolysis inhibitor (STF 31) on single-cell metabolic activity.
Conclusions:
- Functional plasmonic microscopy is a powerful label-free tool for measuring and quantifying single-cell metabolic activities.
- FPM enables the study of metabolic heterogeneity and its implications in disease.
- This technology holds significant potential for drug discovery and therapeutic response evaluation.
