Raman spectroscopic identification of single bacterial cells under antibiotic influence

The identification of pathogenic bacteria is a frequently required task. Current identification procedures are usually either time-consuming due to necessary cultivation steps or expensive and demanding in their application. Furthermore, previous treatment of a patient with antibiotics often renders routine analysis by culturing difficult. Since Raman microspectroscopy allows for the identification of single bacterial cells, it can be used to identify such difficult to culture bacteria. Yet until now, there have been no investigations whether antibiotic treatment of the bacteria influences the Raman spectroscopic identification. This study aims to rapidly identify bacteria that have been subjected to antibiotic treatment on single cell level with Raman microspectroscopy. Two strains of Escherichia coli and two species of Pseudomonas have been treated with four antibiotics, all targeting different sites of the bacteria. With Raman spectra from untreated bacteria, a linear discriminant analysis (LDA) model is built, which successfully identifies the species of independent untreated bacteria. Upon treatment of the bacteria with subinhibitory concentrations of ampicillin, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, and sulfamethoxazole, the LDA model achieves species identification accuracies of 85.4, 95.3, 89.9, and 97.3 %, respectively. Increasing the antibiotic concentrations has no effect on the identification performance. An ampicillin-resistant strain of E. coli and a sample of P. aeruginosa are successfully identified as well. General representation of antibiotic stress in the training data improves species identification performance, while representation of a specific antibiotic improves strain distinction capability. In conclusion, the identification of antibiotically treated bacteria is possible with Raman microspectroscopy for diverse antibiotics on single cell level.

Tumour cell identification by means of Raman spectroscopy in combination with optical traps and microfluidic environments

Raman spectroscopy has been recognized to be a powerful tool for label-free discrimination of cells. Sampling methods are under development to utilize the unique capabilities to identify cells in body fluids such as saliva, urine or blood. The current study applied optical traps in combination with Raman spectroscopy to acquire spectra of single cells in microfluidic glass channels. Optical traps were realized by two 1070 nm single mode fibre lasers. Microflows were controlled by a syringe pump system. A novel microfluidic glass chip was designed to inject single cells, modify the flow speed, accommodate the laser fibres and sort cells after Raman based identification. Whereas the integrated microchip setup used 514 nm for excitation of Raman spectra, a quartz capillary setup excited spectra with 785 nm laser wavelength. Classification models were trained using linear discriminant analysis to differentiate erythrocytes, leukocytes, acute myeloid leukaemia cells (OCI-AML3), and breast tumour cells BT-20 and MCF-7 with accuracies that are comparable with previous Raman experiments of dried cells and fixed cells in a Petri dish. Implementation into microfluidic environments enables a high degree of automation that is required to improve the throughput of the approach for Raman activated cell sorting.     

The determination of the Fe content in natural sphalerites by means of Raman spectroscopy

Natural sphalerite samples collected from the Baia Sprie ore deposit (Romania) were analyzed through Raman spectroscopy, SEM-EDX and XRD. The most intense Raman lines at 300, 331 and 350 cm⁻¹ were used to improve iron determination method from sphalerites by Raman spectroscopy. It is well known that the iron content of synthetic sphalerite can be quantified by measuring the height of Raman lines (h₁, h₃). By using the new h₂/h₃ and (h₁ + h₂)/h₃ ratios and two additional linear equations, this method is improved and becomes suitable to natural sphalerites. The results are in good agreement with the SEM-EDX data.     

煤焦油的拉曼光谱表征和组分识别

用355 nm激光作为激发光源检测了煤焦油常温拉曼光谱;应用两种量子化学计算程序(Gaussian-DFT和ADF)模拟了占总量1%以上的15种煤焦油组分的拉曼光谱,模拟结果与实验光谱能较好匹配,并对振动模式进行了归属分析。研究表明,煤焦油组分主要由共轭六元环构成,其拉曼光谱特征谱带主要在1 660、1 420和1 265 cm^-1附近,当共轭六元环成链式结构时,1 420 cm^-1谱带特征明显;五元环嵌入共轭六元环链式结构会导致其拉曼光谱在1 265和1 660 cm^-1谱带相对强度增大;五元环、杂原子基团和甲基侧链依附在共轭六元环上,则对组分的拉曼光谱影响不显著。     

Identifying and localizing intracellular nanoparticles using Raman spectroscopy

Raman microscopy is employed to spectroscopically image biological cells previously exposed to fluorescently labelled polystyrene nanoparticles and, in combination with K-means clustering and principal component analysis (PCA), is demonstrated to be capable of localising the nanoparticles and identifying the subcellular environment based on the molecular spectroscopic signatures. The neutral nanoparticles of 50 nm or 100 nm, as characterised by dynamic light scattering, are shown to be non-toxic to a human lung adenocarcinoma cell-line (A549), according to a range of cytotoxicity assays including Neutral Red, Alamar Blue, Coomassie Blue and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT). Confocal fluorescence microscopy identifies intracellular fluorescence due to the nanoparticle exposure, but the fluorescence distribution is spatially diffuse, potentially due to detachment of the dye from the nanoparticles, and the technique fails to unambiguously identify the distribution of the nanoparticles within the cells. Raman spectroscopic mapping of the cells in combination with K-means cluster analysis is used to clearly identify and localise the polystyrene nanoparticles in exposed cells, based on their characteristic spectroscopic signatures. PCA identifies the local environment as rich in lipidic signatures which are associated with localisation of the nanoparticles in the endoplasmic reticulum. The importance of optimised cell growth conditions and fixation processes is highlighted. The preliminary study demonstrates the potential of the technique to unambiguously identify and locate nonfluorescent nanoparticles in cells and to probe not only the local environment but also changes in the cell metabolism which may be associated with cytotoxic responses.     

Quantitative analysis of serum and serum ultrafiltrate by means of Raman spectroscopy

The fast and reliable determination of concentrations of blood, plasma or serum constituents is a major requirement in clinical chemistry. We explored Raman spectroscopy as a reagent-free tool for predicting the concentrations of different parameters in serum and serum ultrafiltrate. In an investigation using samples from 247 blood donors (which we believe to be the largest study on Raman spectroscopy of serum so far) the concentrations of glucose, triglycerides, urea, total protein, cholesterol, high density lipoprotein, low density lipoprotein and uric acid were determined with an accuracy within the clinically interesting range. After training a multivariate algorithm for data analysis, using 148 samples, concentrations were predicted blindly for the remaining 99 serum samples based solely on the Raman spectra. Relative errors of prediction around 12% were obtained. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge, differentiation between HDL and LDL cholesterol as well as the quantification of uric acid was for the first time successfully accomplished for serum-based Raman spectroscopy. Finally, we showed that ultrafiltration can efficiently reduce fluorescent light background to improve prediction accuracy such that the relative coefficient of variation was reduced for glucose and urea in ultrafiltrate by more than a factor of 2 when compared to serum.     

Two-dimensional fluorescence spectroscopy for bacterial identification

The use of two-dimensional fluorescence spectroscopy in bacterial identification is greatly aided by the development of rapid data acquisition systems and sophisticated pattern recognition algorithms. Numerous approaches using this multiparameter technique have been explored and have proved to be successful in research scale experiments. They are classified as primary or secondary fluorescence methods. Primary methods are limited to those organisms which produce naturally fluorescent pigments while secondary methods are applicable to virtually all bacteria.     

Investigating the origin of the raw material of rag paper by Raman spectroscopy

The analysis of a historical document of a registry office from nineteenth century through Raman spectroscopy was performed by comparing with an ensemble of standard samples synthesized from cotton and linen raps. Structural parameters of the fibers of the cellulose, such as crystallinity, chain length, intermolecular interactions and packing, were obtained by the measurement of intensity ratios of some marker features. The results suggested the historical document has a cellulosic support originated from cotton, probably produced without basic pH treatment of the raw material.     

Label-free Raman spectroscopy for accessing intracellular anticancer drug release on gold nanoparticles

We investigated glutathione (GSH)-induced purine or pyrimidine anticancer drug release on gold nanoparticle (AuNP) surfaces by means of label-free Raman spectroscopy. GSH-triggered releases of 6-thioguanine (6TG), gemcitabine (GEM), acycloguanosine (ACY), and fadrozole (FAD) were examined in a comparative way by means of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). The GSH-induced dissociation constant of GEM (or ACY/FAD) from AuNPs was estimated to be larger by more than 38 times than that of 6TG from the kinetic relationship. Tripeptide control experiments were presented to check the turn-off Raman signalling mechanism. Dark-field microscopy (DFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicated the intracellular AuNP loads. After their cellular uptake, GEM, ACY, and FAD would not show SERS intensities as strong as 6TG. This may be due to easier release of GEM, ACY, and FAD than 6TG by intracellular reducing species including GSH. We observed fairly strong SERS signals of GEM and 6TG in cell culture media solution. Our CCK-8 cytotoxicity assay data support that 6TG-AuNPs did not exhibit a substantial decrease in cell viability presumably due to strong binding. Label-free confocal Raman spectroscopy can be utilized as an effective tool to access intracellular anticancer drug release.     

Characterization of metal ions in coordinating solvent mixtures by means of Raman spectroscopy.

Titration Raman spectroscopy has been developed for studying the solvation structure of metal ions in solution. The method affords us the solvation number, and the value thus obtained in neat solvents is in good agreement with that determined by EXAFS. The method is then applied to solvent mixtures, and the individual solvation number for each solvent is extracted. In a solvent mixture of N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) and N,N,N',N'-tetramethylurea (TMU), the metal ion prefers DMF to TMU, which is ascribed to the solvation steric effect. The same applies also for the solvent mixture of N,N-dimethylpropionamide (DMPA) and DMF. However, unlike TMU, DMPA changes its conformation from the planar cis to non-planar staggered upon solvation to the metal ion. The enthalpy for the conformational change of DMPA is positive in the bulk, while it is significantly negative in the coordination sphere of the manganese(II) ion. Here, we briefly describe the procedure of measurements and analyses for the titration Raman spectroscopy, and review the solvation structure of the alkaline earth, first transition metal(II) and lanthanide(III) ions in some solvent mixtures in view of solvation steric effect.     

The direct observation of hydrogen molecules in irradiated solid ethanol by means of Raman spectroscopy at 77 K

Hydrogen molecules produced in ethanol glass and crystal which were irradiated at 77 K were detected directly by Raman spectroscopy at 77 K. The bands at 4133 cm^-1 for ethanol glass and 4155 cm^-1 for ethanol crystal were ascribed to the stretching vibration of hydrogen molecules. The assignment of the bands was confirmed by spectra of irradiated ethanol-d₁ and -d₅ glasses: a new band observed at 3610 cm^-1 was due to the vibration of HD molecules. The intensity of the band at 4133 cm^-1 decreased in irradiated ethanol glass containing the electron scavenger, CCl₄, at 77 K. This presents further evidence that the 4133 cm^-1 band is due to hydrogen molecules, since the solvated electron is a precursor of the hydrogen atom.     

Evaporation of material and influence of auxiliary spark gap on the spectral excitation by means of laser emission spectroscopy for local analysis of graphite

For the determination of impurities in graphite, laser-micro-emission spectroscopy allows the analysis of much smaller sample areas than possible by spectroscopic analysis of arc or spark discharges.Because the maximum quantity of material which can be evaporated by a laser beam is only approximately 8μg, it was found necessary to introduce a spark gap above the evaporation pit to provide additional excitation of the plasma, thereby increasing the sensitivity of the analysis. In this way, the radiation intensity of the plasma was increased by two orders of magnitude.The effects of the spark gap parameters, voltage, capacitance and inductance, on the spectral excitation were investigated. Voltage and capacitance determine the energy supplied to the spark gap, whereas capacitance, together with inductance, controls the duration and characteristic of the discharge. To obtain the optimum additional excitation, the duration of the spark discharge had to be matched with the time taken for the material to evaporate.The catalytic effect of some impurity elements on the corrosion of graphite was identified by using the technique to analyse material in the corrosion pits of irradiated graphite fuel elements.     

Study of ozone interaction with microfibrous filter material by IR Fourier and Raman spectroscopy

Interaction of ozone with microfibrous materials based on polystyrene, acrylonitrile, diacetylcellulose, vinyl chloride and carbon are studied by the methods of IR Fourier and Raman spectroscopy.     

The characterization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by Raman spectroscopy

High quality Raman spectra, substantially free from fluorescence interference, have been obtained from 11 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, in the solid state, using a Fourier Transform spectrometer. These spectra are rich in sharp bands and, merely by utilizing the limited number of strong peaks it is possible to characterize each hydrocarbon uniquely. The presence of an appreciable number of peaks of medium intensity in each spectrum considerably increases the specificity. The scope and limitations of these spectra for analytical purposes are discussed.     

Chemotaxonomical identification of spores of macrofungi: possibilities of Raman spectroscopy

Confocal Raman spectroscopy is a non-destructive analytical method which is useful to obtain detailed information about the molecular composition of biological samples. Its high spatial resolution was used to collect spectra of single basidiospores of macrofungi of the genera Collybia, Gymnopus, Laccaria, Lactarius, Mycena and Russula. These spectra can be divided into three major taxon-related groups, with general compositional differences, such as the relative amount of lipids compared to proteins. In this study, collapsing of thin-walled spores during storage was often observed, a phenomenon which has been given little attention in the literature. The Raman spectra are treated with different chemometric preprocessing techniques, including Savitsky–Golay, standard normal variate (SNV) preprocessing and extended multiplicative scatter correction (EMSC). By using linear discriminant analysis, approximately 90% of the spectra can be assigned to the correct genus, but identification on the species level was not possible.     

Molecular-level investigation on electrochemical interfaces by Raman spectroscopy

The structure and dynamics of electrode/liquid interfaces play an increasingly important role in electrochemistry. Raman spectroscopy is capable of providing detailed structural information at molecular level and new insight into the interfacial structure, adsorption, reaction, electrocatalysis and corro-sion. In this account we will summarize some progresses of surface Raman spectroscopy in the study of electrochemical interfaces, mainly based on our group's work, laying emphasis on the detection sensitivity, spectral resolution, time resolution and spatial resolution as well as the hyphenated technique.     

The hydrogen-bond network in propylene-glycol studied by Raman spectroscopy

In the present work, we report a polarized Raman study versus temperature of the complex O–H stretching vibrational band (3800–3000 cm⁻¹) performed in a glass forming liquid, namely propylene-glycol (PG), with chemical formula given by H[OCH(CH₃)CH₂]OH. The spectra were collected in bulk and confined state within a sol–gel controlled porous glass having highly interconnected 25 Å diameter pores and characterized by a huge number of silanol groups (Si–OH), able to interact with PG molecules via hydrogen bond. The goal was to investigate how the hydrophilic nature of the surface influenced the molecular mobility of this hydrogen-bonded system, by monitoring intra- and inter-molecular host–host and host–guest interactions. The analysed O–H spectral region was decomposed into Gaussian symmetrical profiles, each of them associated to a well-defined aggregate, triggered by the presence of H-bond. Passing from the bulk state to the confined one, a clear change of the dynamical properties has been revealed and related to the interactions with the surface. The observed results were discussed on the basis of current models for associated liquids.     

Raman spectroscopy on zeolites

The zeolite Raman literature is reviewed, with an emphasis on zeolite structure and synthesis, adsorption and metal complex formation in zeolites     

Towards detection and identification of circulating tumour cells using Raman spectroscopy

Body fluids are easily accessible and contain valuable indices for medical diagnosis. Fascinating tools are tumour cells circulating in the peripheral blood of cancer patients. As these cells are extremely rare, they constitute a challenge for clinical diagnostics. In this contribution we present the Raman spectroscopic-based identification of different single cells in suspension that are found in peripheral blood of cancer patients including healthy cells like leukocytes and erythrocytes, and tumour cells like leukaemic cells and cells originating from solid tumours. Leukocytes and erythrocytes were isolated from the peripheral blood of healthy donors while myeloid leukaemia cells (OCI-AML3) and breast carcinoma derived cells (MCF-7, BT-20) were obtained from cell cultures. A laser emitting 785 nm light was used for optical trapping the single cells in the laser focus and to excite the Raman spectrum. Support vector machines were applied to develop a supervised classification model with spectra of 1210 cells originating from three different donors and three independent cultivation batches. Distinguishing tumour cells from healthy cells was achieved with a sensitivity of >99.7% and a specificity of >99.5%. In addition, the correct cell types were predicted with an accuracy of approximately 92%.