Activation dynamics study of trapped platelets using a lab-built optical tweezers micro-raman spectrometer

Area of Science:

• Biophysics
• Spectroscopy
• Cell Biology

Background:

• Platelet disorders are linked to various diseases, including cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), Alzheimer's disease (AD), and cancer.
• Current diagnostic methods (imaging, clinical analysis, neuropsychological tests) can be time-consuming and prone to errors.
• Raman tweezers spectroscopy presents a faster, more accurate alternative for diagnosis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate platelet activation dynamics using Raman tweezers spectroscopy.
• To establish a novel method for real-time analysis of platelet activation in a clinical setting.

Main Methods:

• Utilized an in-house assembled optical tweezers micro-Raman spectrometer.
• Trapped live platelets to study their activation dynamics.
• Analyzed biochemical and morphological changes during platelet activation.

Main Results:

• Observed significant biochemical and morphological changes upon platelet activation.
• Documented the formation of filopodia, shape transformation (discoid to spherical), and aminophospholipid translocation.
• Detected notable intensity variations in Raman bands corresponding to phospholipids during activation.

Conclusions:

• Raman tweezers spectroscopy provides trustworthy and timely results for platelet activation analysis.
• Understanding platelet activation dynamics is vital for monitoring diseases like CVDs and ADs.
• This prospective method holds potential for future clinical applications in analyzing platelet activation.