Mitochondrial Correlation Microscopy and Nanolaser Spectroscopy — New Tools for Biophotonic Detection of Cancer in Single Cells

Abstract

Currently, pathologists rely on labor-intensive microscopic examination of tumor cells using century-old staining methods that can give false readings. Emerging BioMicroNano-technologies have the potential to provide accurate, realtime, high-throughput screening of tumor cells without the need for time-consuming sample preparation. These rapid, nano-optical techniques may play an important role in advancing early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of disease. In this report, we show that laser scanning confocal microscopy can be used to identify a previously unknown property of certain cancer cells that distinguishes them, with single-cell resolution, from closely related normal cells. This property is the correlation of light scattering and the spatial organization of mitochondria. In normal liver cells, mitochondria are highly organized within the cytoplasm and highly scattering, yielding a highly correlated signal. In cancer cells, mitochondria are more chaotically organized and poorly scattering. These differences correlate with important bioenergetic disturbances that are hallmarks of many types of cancer. In addition, we review recent work that exploits the new technology of nanolaser spectroscopy using the biocavity laser to characterize the unique spectral signatures of normal and transformed cells. These optical methods represent powerful new tools that hold promise for detecting cancer at an early stage and may help to limit delays in diagnosis and treatment.

The in-depth evaluation of suspected mitochondrial disease

“…In the first studies of this new technology in human disease, the biocavity laser was able to detect mitochondrial dysfunction in disorders as varied as cancer [142] and primary OXPHOS disease [143].…”

Advances in small animal mesentery models for in vivo flow cytometry, dynamic microscopy, and drug screening

“…RBCs and K562 cells were labeled with FITC and MitoTracker Red, respectively. Because of differences in the optical properties of normal and cancerous cells, especially mitochondrial distribution [134,135] , which can be visualized with the PT technique, we can assume that PTFC has the potential to distinguish these cells after further improvements.…”

“…In vivo study of apoptosis is crucial for understanding the fundamentals of cell biolog y; optimization of radiation therapy and chemotherapy; diagnosis of many diseases (e.g., metastasis development, cardiovascular diseases, hematological diseases, autoimmune diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, Alzheimer's disease); and assessment of acute organ transplant rejection or the effect of immunosuppressive drugs [134,[184][185][186][187][188][189][190][191][192][193][194][195] . Despite significant progress in studying apoptosis in vitro with many powerful assays, adapting these assays to in vivo study of apoptosis is extremely difficult [184,185] .…”

Cerebral Biophoton Emission as a Potential Factor in Non-Local Human-Machine Interaction

“…The phenomenon of biophoton emission (BPE) refers to the occurrence of ultraweak light emission from biological matter, typically in association with reactive oxygen species formation and cellular metabolism (Apel & Hirt, 2004). Biophotons have been a major focus in the area of biophysics for a number of years (e.g., Li et al, 1983;Chang, 2008), and novel approaches to molecular biology have been revealed through the study of this mechanism (e.g., Isojima et al, 1995;Gourley et al, 2005). Subsequent experiments have suggested the plasma membrane of the cell as the most likely source .…”