Raman Scattering: From Structural Biology to Medical Applications

Abstract

This is a review of relevant Raman spectroscopy (RS) techniques and their use in structural biology, biophysics, cells, and tissues imaging towards development of various medical diagnostic tools, drug design, and other medical applications. Classical and contemporary structural studies of different water-soluble and membrane proteins, DNA, RNA, and their interactions and behavior in different systems were analyzed in terms of applicability of RS techniques and their complementarity to other corresponding methods. We show that RS is a powerful method that links the fundamental structural biology and its medical applications in cancer, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, atherosclerotic, and other diseases. In particular, the key roles of RS in modern technologies of structure-based drug design are the detection and imaging of membrane protein microcrystals with the help of coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS), which would help to further the development of protein structural crystallography and would result in a number of novel high-resolution structures of membrane proteins—drug targets; and, structural studies of photoactive membrane proteins (rhodopsins, photoreceptors, etc.) for the development of new optogenetic tools. Physical background and biomedical applications of spontaneous, stimulated, resonant, and surface- and tip-enhanced RS are also discussed. All of these techniques have been extensively developed during recent several decades. A number of interesting applications of CARS, resonant, and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy methods are also discussed.

In Situ Water Quantification in Natural Deep Eutectic Solvents Using Portable Raman Spectroscopy

“…Raman spectroscopy is considered as an approach well suited for the monitoring and control of chemical and pharmaceutical processes [ 3 , 4 ], end point prediction of chemical synthesis reactions [ 5 ] or monitoring of polymorphic transformation in crystallisation processes [ 6 , 7 ]. In the microscopic mode, Raman spectroscopy can access molecular information at the micron level [ 8 , 9 ], and notable applications have been extensively covered in the literature, e.g., the mapping of biological tissues and cells for diagnosis or drug interactions [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ]. Raman systems designed for research are generally equipped with multiple laser sources and offer a multitude of customizable parameters to optimise the data collection, such as adjustable pinhole, high magnification objectives and interchangeable gratings for different spectral resolutions.…”

Ambiguities in and completeness of SAS data analysis of membrane proteins: the case of the sensory rhodopsin II–transducer complex

“…antibacterial and anticancer drugs, drugs against neurodegenerative diseases etc. Structural studies of membrane proteins are important for pharmacological and medical applications (Tanford & Reynolds, 1976;Arnold & Linke, 2007;Seddon et al, 2004;von Heijne, 2006;Verche `re et al, 2017;Vlasov et al, 2020).…”

Current and Future Advancements of Raman Spectroscopy Techniques in Cancer Nanomedicine

“…Raman scattering methods are label-free and non-destructive and they are largely used for molecular cancer diagnostics because of their ability to detect changes in the biochemical signatures of cancer cells [ 55 ]. The success of Raman spectroscopy in nanomedicine lies not only in its ability to discriminate with high accuracy between healthy and diseased cells but also in its capability of identifying the unique biochemical fingerprints of individual cells and of tissues [ 56 ]. These fingerprints are generated by the vibrations of the molecular bonds of the components of the sample; in the case of cells and tissues, they are proteins, amino acids, nucleic acids, and lipids.…”