From the announcement:
Characterization of biological 3D model systems
Biological and medical research increasingly uses 3D model systems such as organoids to mimic entire organs and study molecular mechanisms in the context of multicellularity in vitro. Vernon LaLone, his colleagues at Imperial College London, UK, and his co-authors at the University of Oslo beautifully presented the potential of Raman imaging for characterizing these complex 3D structures in detail, and in doing so earned this year’s Paper Award GOLD.
The authors developed a method for quantifying the absolute concentration of multiple biological compounds in organoids created from both primary human hepatocytes and human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). Using their approach, even compounds which are generally difficult to visualize with conventional staining techniques were efficiently detected. The newly established quantitative Raman imaging method could identify differences between the primary and stem-cell-derived organoids in terms of their amounts of protein, nucleic acid and unsaturated lipids. In addition, compositional changes were found in the organoids after exposing them to liver-altering drugs. At the same time, the drug’s metabolization and accumulation in the tissue could be tracked.
Together, the authors presented their quantitative Raman method as a powerful tool for the molecular characterization of tissues with high cellular and subcellular resolution. In their words, quantitative Raman imaging “constitutes an important step in developing quantitative label-free interrogation of 3D biological specimens.”
https://www.oxinst.com/news/witec-honors-scientists-with-2024-paper-awards/?sbms=raman
Graphical abstract of the paper:
