Acquisition of a confocal Raman microscope for molecular fingerprinting of cells and tissue

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PROJECT SUMMARY The Arkansas Integrative Metabolic Research Center (AIMRC) is a Phase I COBRE at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville (04/01/2021-02/28/2026; PI: Dr. Kyle P. Quinn). The scientific theme of the AIMRC is to understand the role of cell and tissue metabolism in disease, development, and repair through research involving advanced imaging, bioenergetics, and data science. The long-term goal of the AIMRC is to establish a sustainable interdisciplinary research center that can support biomedical research at the U of A and grow the emerging strength in metabolic research on campus. The Imaging and Spectroscopy Core will enable label-free non-destructive imaging of cellular redox status and oxygen saturation in live cells, tissues, and organisms through an assortment of microscopy and spectroscopy techniques. In addition to our existing capabilities, we propose to install a confocal Raman microscope for non-destructive and label-free imaging of the molecular composition of cells, tissues, and tissue sections. Raman scattering offers the ability to probe biomolecular changes and visualize the complex molecular heterogeneity directly from cells and tissues. The technique relies on the inelastic scattering of light, arising from its interactions with the biological specimen, to quantify the unique vibrational modes of molecules within its native context. Since every molecular species has a unique Raman scattering spectrum or “fingerprint”, analyses of cells and tissues using the Raman microscope can provide highly complementary information to the quantitative metabolic imaging by two-photon microscopy. The Raman microscope purchased as part of this supplement request will be highly beneficial for the projects proposed by current research project leaders and pilot project awardees who may be candidates for future advancement to research project leaders.