Flow cytometry is an indispensable tool in biology for counting and analyzing single cells in large heterogeneous populations. However, it predominantly relies on fluorescent labeling to differentiate cells and, hence, comes with several fundamental drawbacks. Here, we present a high-throughput Raman flow cytometer on a microfluidic chip that chemically probes single live cells in a label-free manner. It is based on a rapid-scan Fourier-transform coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering spectrometer as an optical interrogator, enabling us to obtain the broadband molecular vibrational spectrum of every single cell in the fingerprint region (400 to 1600 cm−1) with a record-high throughput of ~2000 events/s. As a practical application of the method not feasible with conventional flow cytometry, we demonstrate high-throughput label-free single-cell analysis of the astaxanthin productivity and photosynthetic dynamics of Haematococcus lacustris.
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机译:流式细胞仪是生物学中不可或缺的工具,用于计数和分析大型异类群体中的单细胞。但是,它主要依靠荧光标记来区分细胞,因此具有几个基本缺点。在这里,我们提出了一种微流控芯片上的高通量拉曼流式细胞仪,该芯片以无标记的方式化学探测单个活细胞。它基于快速扫描傅立叶变换相干反斯托克斯拉曼散射光谱仪作为光学询问器,使我们能够获得指纹区域(400至1600 cm ),吞吐量达到约2000个事件/秒的创纪录的高水平。作为该方法在常规流式细胞术中不可行的实际应用,我们证明了虾青素产量和光合动力学方面虾青素的高通量无标记单细胞分析。
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