319
β-carotene is present in all organelles of corpus luteum. As expected, the highest
concentration of β-carotene was found in lipid fractions due to the fact that carotenoids are soluble in the lipid droplets in the cell, while nuclei and mitochondria,
i. e. hydrophilic cellular compartments, are regions of the lower concentration of
carotenoids [41].
Raman imaging was also applied to obtain information on the cellular distribution of carotenoids in Xenopus laevis oocytes [43]. oocytes of stage one were
chosen as the object of study. oogenesis for Xenopus laevis can be divided into six
steps with the stage one being particularly convenient for spectroscopic analysis due
to the characteristic transparent cytoplasm in the cells [44]. Based on distribution
maps it was demonstrated that the highest concentration of β-carotene corresponds
to cytoplasm and cellular membrane while the lowest carotenoid concentration is
found in nucleus [43].
11.4 Carotenoids in Single Human Cells
the growing attention is focused on studying carotenoids in human cells. Research
in this area are mainly related to lymphocytes due to the protective role played by
carotenoids in the human immune system. In addition to studies devoted to distribution of carotenoids in lymphocytes [7–9], the effect of age [45] and health condition
[10] of the organism was investigated by Raman spectroscopy and Raman imaging.
Furthermore, Raman spectroscopy was used to assign the spectral signature of different type of cells: human colon adenocarcinoma [4], gastric carcinoma [5] and
human breast cancer cells [6, 46, 47]. the possibility of using Raman spectroscopy
as a diagnostic tool allowing for distinguishing of cancerous/malignant and healthy
cells was also presented [5, 6, 46]. In order to analyse complex spectral data, chemometric methods were frequently applied in the works described in this section.
11.4.1 Lymphocytes
Leukocytes are the most diverse group of blood cells. they can be divided into
following subclasses: granulocytes (neutrophils, basophils and eosinophils) and
mononuclear cells (lymphocytes and monocytes) [7]. different types of leukocytes
can be distinguished due to the shape of nucleus, size and cellular components. Raman spectroscopy has been often used to determine the chemical composition of
single blood cells based on some distinctive Raman bands [7–10, 41, 45, 48, 49].
the four selected types of leukocytes: lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils
and neutrophils were measured with the application of Raman microimaging. the
spectra of nuclei and cytoplasm compartments of studied leukocytes are shown in
Fig. 11.5. [7] Based on Fig. 11.5, it can be noticed that only cytoplasm of lymphocytes contains carotenoids as confirmed by the presence of two characteristic bands
at 1522 and 1158 cm
−1
. No traces of carotenoids were observed for other types of
11 Structural and Spatial Analysis of Carotenoids in a Single Cell monitored …
β-carotene is present in all organelles of corpus luteum. As expected, the highest
concentration of β-carotene was found in lipid fractions due to the fact that carotenoids are soluble in the lipid droplets in the cell, while nuclei and mitochondria,
i. e. hydrophilic cellular compartments, are regions of the lower concentration of
carotenoids [41].
Raman imaging was also applied to obtain information on the cellular distribution of carotenoids in Xenopus laevis oocytes [43]. oocytes of stage one were
chosen as the object of study. oogenesis for Xenopus laevis can be divided into six
steps with the stage one being particularly convenient for spectroscopic analysis due
to the characteristic transparent cytoplasm in the cells [44]. Based on distribution
maps it was demonstrated that the highest concentration of β-carotene corresponds
to cytoplasm and cellular membrane while the lowest carotenoid concentration is
found in nucleus [43].
11.4 Carotenoids in Single Human Cells
the growing attention is focused on studying carotenoids in human cells. Research
in this area are mainly related to lymphocytes due to the protective role played by
carotenoids in the human immune system. In addition to studies devoted to distribution of carotenoids in lymphocytes [7–9], the effect of age [45] and health condition
[10] of the organism was investigated by Raman spectroscopy and Raman imaging.
Furthermore, Raman spectroscopy was used to assign the spectral signature of different type of cells: human colon adenocarcinoma [4], gastric carcinoma [5] and
human breast cancer cells [6, 46, 47]. the possibility of using Raman spectroscopy
as a diagnostic tool allowing for distinguishing of cancerous/malignant and healthy
cells was also presented [5, 6, 46]. In order to analyse complex spectral data, chemometric methods were frequently applied in the works described in this section.
11.4.1 Lymphocytes
Leukocytes are the most diverse group of blood cells. they can be divided into
following subclasses: granulocytes (neutrophils, basophils and eosinophils) and
mononuclear cells (lymphocytes and monocytes) [7]. different types of leukocytes
can be distinguished due to the shape of nucleus, size and cellular components. Raman spectroscopy has been often used to determine the chemical composition of
single blood cells based on some distinctive Raman bands [7–10, 41, 45, 48, 49].
the four selected types of leukocytes: lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils
and neutrophils were measured with the application of Raman microimaging. the
spectra of nuclei and cytoplasm compartments of studied leukocytes are shown in
Fig. 11.5. [7] Based on Fig. 11.5, it can be noticed that only cytoplasm of lymphocytes contains carotenoids as confirmed by the presence of two characteristic bands
at 1522 and 1158 cm
−1
. No traces of carotenoids were observed for other types of
11 Structural and Spatial Analysis of Carotenoids in a Single Cell monitored …