Label-free Raman spectroscopy is an established optical technique that provides highly specific chemical footprint of metabolites (lipids, fatty acids, phospholipids, and amino acids) and proteins. Our lab is integrating Label-free Raman with quantitative multivariate analysis to track metabolic changes in response to treatment in cells in vitro, tissues in vivo, and in patient-derived tumor organoids capturing heterogeneous drug response at single cell level. Metabolic reprograming is a well-known hallmark of multiple disorders including cancer, neurodegenerative diseases etc. Metabolic changes occur at an earlier time-point before a reduction in tumor is seen, and hence considered a more sensitive endpoint to treatment response.
Clinical techniques such as PET and MRS (magnetic resonance spectroscopy) are established approaches but they are cost-prohibitive, time-intensive, and have poor sensitivities that often do not resolve diseased cells at their early stage such as the pre-metastatic niche. Raman addresses these limitations of current paradigm allowing a rapid, label-free, low-cost and high-throughput approach for multiplexed detection of metabolites. Using this approach we are studying the impact of drugs inhibiting receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) such as EGFR and MET/RON, and combination with inhibitors of the Raf/MEK/ERK and PI3K/mTOR pathways in cancer cells and organoids. We are looking to expand this approach to neurodegenerative disease models as well.
Relevant Publications
Y-C. Ou*, X. Wen*, G. Bogatcheva, B. Singh, E. C. Lin, R. Bardhan* “Lable-free Raman mapping identify metabolic alterations in breast cancer cells in response to cytostatic agents”, in preparation