Life Science and Biology
Intracellular distribution of cholesterol
Cholesterol, a lipid molecule, is essential for cell membrane integrity, hormone synthesis, and cellular signaling in the human body. Understanding how it is distributed within cells is critical for comprehending its role in cellular function and signaling. An viable technique to visualize this distribution is Raman imaging.
In the application given, deuterium was used as a labeling agent for cholesterol in HeLa cells to enhance detection and aiding in identifying the target molecule while minimizing interference from other sources. The Raman image below depicts HeLa cells with normal and deuterium-substituted cholesterol. The spectra from the respective areas show the spectral differences between the two. The zoom in reveals the deuterium peaks at 2066 cm-1, 2121 cm-1 and 2212 cm-1 which are not present in the spectrum of the normal cholesterol.
