Vibrational fiber photometry: label-free and reporter-free minimally invasive Raman spectroscopy deep in the mouse brain
Optical approaches to monitor neural activity are transforming neuroscience, owing to a fast-evolving palette of genetically encoded molecular reporters. However, the field still requires robust and label-free technologies to monitor the multifaceted biomolecular changes accompanying brain development, aging or disease. Here, we have developed vibrational fiber photometry as a low-invasive method for label-free monitoring of the biomolecular content of arbitrarily deep regions of the mouse brain in vivo through spontaneous Raman spectroscopy. Using a tapered fiber probe as thin as 1 µm at its tip, we elucidate the cytoarchitecture of the mouse brain, monitor molecular alterations caused by traumatic brain injury, as well as detect markers of brain metastasis with high accuracy. We view our approach, which introduces a deep learning algorithm to suppress probe background, as a promising complement to the existing palette of tools for the optical interrogation of neural function, with application to fundamental and preclinical investigations of the brain and other organs.
Authors
- Maria Samuela Andriani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1447-1650)
- Massimo De Vittorio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1601-6392)
- Marco Bianco (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9693-1106)
- Francesco Tantussi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0812-082X)
- Liam Collard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9742-9043)
- Francesco Gentile (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1724-6301)
- Ferruccio Pisanello (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1489-7758)
- M. Grande
- Mariam Masmudi‐Martín (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5005-9199)
- Antonio Balena (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4314-4314)
- Manuel Valiente (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0647-7542)
- Elena Cid (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4852-595X)
- Liset Menéndez de la Prida (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0160-6472)
- Filippo Pisano (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5499-160X)
- Marco Pisanello (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2179-7883)
- Patricia Baena
- Mohammadrahim Kazemzadeh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3680-2921)
- Leonardo Sileo
- Francesco De Angelis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6053-2488)
- Teresa Jurado Parras
Institutions
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- University of Padua (IT)
- University of Salento (IT)
- Collège de France (FR)
- Instituto Cajal (ES)
- Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (FR)
- Laboratoire Kastler Brossel (FR)
- École Normale Supérieure - PSL (FR)
- Italian Institute of Technology (IT)
- Magna Graecia University (IT)
- Sorbonne Université (FR)
- Center for Biomolecular Nanotechnologies (IT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Methods
- Published
- 2024-12-31
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-024-02557-3
- Citations
- 12
- Primary Topic
- Spectroscopy Techniques in Biomedical and Chemical Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 7.95