High‐sensitivity chemical imaging offers a window to decipher the molecular orchestra inside a living system. Based on vibrational fingerprint signatures, coherent Raman scattering microscopy provides a label‐free approach to map biomolecules and drug molecules inside a cell. Yet, by near‐infrared (NIR) pulse excitation, the sensitivity is limited to millimolar concentration for endogenous biomolecules. Here, the imaging sensitivity of stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) is significantly boosted for retinoid molecules to 34 micromolar via electronic preresonance in the visible wavelength regime. Retinoids play critical roles in development, immunity, stem cell differentiation, and lipid metabolism. By visible preresonance SRS (VP‐SRS) imaging, retinoid distribution in single embryonic neurons and mouse brain tissues is mapped, retinoid storage in chemoresistant pancreatic and ovarian cancers is revealed, and retinoids stored in protein network and lipid droplets of
Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy allows for high-speed label-free chemical imaging of biomedical systems. The imaging sensitivity of SRS microscopy is limited to ~10 mM for endogenous biomolecules. Electronic pre-resonant SRS allows detection of sub-micromolar chromophores. However, label-free SRS detection of single biomolecules having extremely small Raman cross-sections (~10−30 cm2sr−1) remains unreachable. Here, we demonstrate plasmon-enhanced stimulated Raman scattering (PESRS) microscopy with single-molecule detection sensitivity. Incorporating pico-Joule laser excitation, background subtraction, and a denoising algorithm, we obtain robust single-pixel SRS spectra exhibiting single-molecule events, verified by using two isotopologues of adenine and further confirmed by digital blinking and bleaching in the temporal domain. To demonstrate the capability of PESRS for biological applications, we utilize PESRS to map adenine released from bacteria due to starvation stress. PESRS microscopy holds the promise for ultrasensitive detection and rapid mapping of molecular events in chemical and biomedical systems.
more » « less- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10153862
- Publisher / Repository:
- Nature Publishing Group
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Nature Communications
- Volume:
- 10
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 2041-1723
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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