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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2021.05.16.444384

High-throughput Raman-activated cell sorting in the fingerprint region

Lindley, M.·Gala de Pablo, J.·Peterson, J. W.·Isozaki, A.·Hiramatsu, K.·Goda, K.
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Abstract

Cell sorting is the workhorse of biological research and medicine. Cell sorters are commonly used to sort heterogeneous cell populations based on their intrinsic features. Raman-activated cell sorting (RACS) has recently received considerable interest by virtue of its ability to discriminate cells by their intracellular chemical content, in a label-free manner. However, broad deployment of RACS beyond lab-based demonstrations is hindered by a fundamental trade-off between throughput and measurement bandwidth (i.e., cellular information content). Here we overcome this trade-off and demonstrate broadband RACS in the fingerprint region (300 - 1,600 cm-1) with a record high throughput of ~50 cells per second. This represents a 100x throughput increase compared to previous demonstrations of broadband fingerprint-region RACS. To show the utility of our RACS, we demonstrate real-time label-free sorting of microalgal cells based on their accumulation of carotenoids and polysaccharide granules. These results hold promise for medical, biofuel, and bioplastic applications.

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Lindley, M., Gala de Pablo, J., Peterson, J. W., Isozaki, A., Hiramatsu, K., Goda, K.. 2021-05-17. High-throughput Raman-activated cell sorting in the fingerprint region. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.16.444384

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