Micro-Raman spectroscopy of single leukemic cells

The Raman spectra from leukemic cell line (HL60) and normal human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) are obtained by confocal micro-Raman spectroscopy using near-infrared laser (785 nm) excitation. The scanning range is from 500 to 2000 cm-1. The two average Raman spectra of normal PBMCs and carcinoma cells have clear differences because their structure and amount of nucleic acid, protein, and other major molecules are changed. The spectra are also compared and analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA) to demonstrate the two distinct clusters of normal and transformed cells. The sensitivity of this technique for identifying transformed cells is 100%.