Label free multimodal optical imaging of metabolic heterogeneity in aging by integrating SRS, MPF, FLIM, and SHG
emporal-resolved spectroscopy), a label-free imaging platform that integrates stimulated Raman scattering (SRS), second harmonic generation (SHG), multiphoton fluorescence (MPF), and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM). The MANIFEST combines chemical imaging of lipids with autofluorescence- and lifetime-based quantification of NADH and FAD metabolism, enabling spatially resolved analysis of metabolic heterogeneity at organelle and tissue-compartment levels. We apply this framework to four distinct aging or disease models: amyloid-beta-treated tri-cultured brain cells, high-fat diet mouse liver, human non-ischemic cardiomyopathy tissue, and aging mouse retina. Across these systems, MANIFEST reveals disease-associated lipid remodeling, redox imbalance, disrupted metabolic zonation, collagen reorganization, and layer-specific metabolic changes. By integrating complementary nonlinear optical modalities into a single label-free platform, MANIFEST provides a generalizable approach for high-resolution metabolic phenotyping in complex biological systems and offers new opportunities for studying disease mechanisms, aging biology, and metabolism-driven tissue pathology.
Authors
- Dorota Skowronska‐Krawczyk (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5758-4225)
- Kenneth B. Margulies (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8093-4465)
- Lingyan Shi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1373-3206)
- Erkin Şeker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2401-3562)
- Tong‐You Wade Wei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4578-5668)
- Anahita Ataran (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4426-4959)
- Shuang Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9537-5950)
- Jian Kang
- Hyehyun Kim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6033-1387)
- Fangyuan Gao
- Ali Javaheri
- Hongje Jang
- Wei Sun
- John Y-J Shyy
Institutions
- Northwestern University (US)
- University of California, Irvine (US)
- Washington University in St. Louis (US)
- Cardiovascular Institute of the South (US)
- University of California San Diego (US)
- John Cochran VA Medical Center (US)
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- University of California, Davis (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
- Published
- 2026-04-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.04.11.717872
- Primary Topic
- Spectroscopy Techniques in Biomedical and Chemical Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- University of California, San Diego
- Common Fund