Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a powerful and sensitive technique for the detection of fingerprint signals of molecules and for the investigation of a series of surface chemical reactions. Many studies introduced quantitative applications of SERS in various fields, and several SERS methods have been implemented for each specific application, ranging in performance characteristics, analytes used, instruments, and analytical matrices. In general, very few methods have been validated according to international guidelines. As a consequence, the application of SERS in highly regulated environments is still considered risky, and the perception of a poorly reproducible and insufficiently robust analytical technique has persistently retarded its routine implementation. Collaborative trials are a type of interlaboratory study (ILS) frequently performed to ascertain the quality of a single analytical method. The idea of an ILS of quantification with SERS arose within the framework of Working Group 1 (WG1) of the EU COST Action BM1401 Raman4Clinics in an effort to overcome the problematic perception of quantitative SERS methods. Here, we report the first interlaboratory SERS study ever conducted, involving 15 laboratories and 44 researchers. In this study, we tried to define a methodology to assess the reproducibility and trueness of a quantitative SERS method and to compare different methods. In our opinion, this is a first important step toward a “standardization” process of SERS protocols, not proposed by a single laboratory but by a larger community.

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Confocal Raman mapping and FT-IR imaging combined with chemometric analysis was used to study the alterations in murine brain tissue induced by the development of atherosclerosis. FT-IR imaging allowed us to obtain lower spatial resolution data (∼5.5 μm) from large, representative cross-sectional brain areas, while Raman mapping provided a more detailed insight into chosen regions of interest with high spatial resolution (∼0.4 μm). A comparison of white (WM) and grey matter (GM) from control (C57BL/6J) and ApoE/LDLR(-/-) mice with advanced atherosclerosis revealed disease-induced changes in both: GM and WM. The alterations included an increased lipid to protein ratio and higher total content of cholesterol.

This work presents the potential of vibrational spectroscopy, Vis and NIR Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) in reflection and transmission modes, and nano-FTIR microscopy to study the biochemical alterations in membranes of isolated and intact red blood cells (RBCs). The main goal was to propose the best spectroscopic method which enabled following biochemical alterations in the RBC membranes and then to translate this spectroscopic signature of degradation to in situ analysis of RBCs. Two models corresponding to two distinct cases of RBC membrane conditions were employed, and they were derived from healthy and young mice and mature mice with advanced atherosclerosis. It was shown that each technique provided essential information about biochemical alterations of the isolated membranes as well as membranes in the intact RBCs, which can be used in the development of a rapid and in situ analytical technology. Finally, we proposed that the combination of macro- and nanoprobing implemented in IR spectroscopy provided a wide chemical characterization of the RBC membranes, including alterations in lipid and protein fractions. This study also examined the effect of the sample preparation to determine destructive factors influencing a spectroscopic analysis of isolated membranes and intact RBCs derived from healthy and disease-affected mice.

This communication describes the anti-platelet effects of a new class of cis-rhenium(II)-dicarbonyl-vitamin B 12 complexes with tuneable CO releasing properties.Carbon-monoxide releasing molecules (CORMs) represent an innovative class of compounds which attract interest due to their potential therapeutic utility. Unlike most common drugs whose pharmacological action is dependent on their interaction with a macromolecular target and whose potency is dictated by the stability of the drug-target complex, CORMs exert their therapeutic action via the liberated CO molecules. [1][2][3][4][5] However, apart from the common scientific consensus that CORM-based therapy should not lead to significant carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) formation and to the inhibition of respiratory enzymes that are sensitive to CO, it is questionable whether CORMs should release CO slowly or rapidly and what kinetics of CO release is most advantageous for therapeutic applications. There are only few reports clearly showing the advantages of CORMs slowly releasing CO over those releasing CO instantly 6,7 and they relate to the anti-platelet effects of CORMs. Furthermore, it has proved chemically challenging to fine-tune the activation and the rate of CO release within a family of structurally similar CORM compounds. For all of these reasons, versatile classes of CORMs with tuneable release properties affording anti-platelet activity are highly desired for tackling these open questions in systematic structure-activity relationship studies. Such studies will facilitate the development of CORMs with optimal antiplatelet activity. -(CO) 2 fragment. This approach seemed to be reasonable because small variations in the coordination sphere of rhenium complexes have profound consequences on the electrochemistry, water stability and CO releasing properties of the dicarbonyl core.17 B 12 appeared to be attractive as ligand for the rhenium-based CORM entity mainly because of two reasons: (a) its cellular uptake properties can be exploited to deliver therapeutic agents specifically at disease sites; 18-20 (b) the electronic properties at the cobalt center can be selectively modified by introducing structural modifications at the corrin-p-system. 21-24Having the general design of the B 12 -ReCORMs derivatives in mind (Scheme 1), we synthesized and studied first a series of Scheme 1 General design concept for the tuneable activation of CORMbiovectors conjugates.