Label-free biochemical characterization of bovine sperm cells using Raman microscopy

Raman spectroscopy is a label-free and non-invasive method that measures the inelastic scattered light from a sample giving insight into the vibration eigenmodes of the excited molecules. For these reasons, Raman spectroscopy has been used as a powerful tool to investigate different biological tissues and living cells. In this paper, we present a Raman spectroscopy-based method for sensitive biochemical characterization of bovine sperm cells. Importantly, by analysing separate Raman spectra from the nucleus, acrosomale vesicle and tail of single sperm cells, we are able to identify characteristic Raman features associated with DNA, protein and lipid molecular vibrations for discriminating among different locations inside the cell with sub-micrometric resolution (~0.3 ?m). We demonstrate that our Raman spectroscopy facilitates spectral assignment and increases detection sensitivity, opening the way for novel bio-imaging platforms. © (2013) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.