Laser phase microscopy and functional imaging of living human cancer cells during the cell cycle

The purpose of the investigation was to elaborate a new method of functional imaging of living tumor cells. Human colon carcinoma cells HCT116 were investigated with a conventional light microscope, confocal laser scanning microscope and with a laser phase microscope (LPM). The LPM is a functional imaging technique providing information about cell morphology which is imposed by the physiological inhomogeneity of the refractive index. The phase of the light wave passing through an object contains quantitative information about the object thickness, the shape, and the spatial distribution of the refractive index varying with morphology and chemical composition inhomogeneity inside the object. The new method of investigation of the cells in different stages of the cell cycle is developed. Every phase image of the investigated cells has been compared with conventional light microscopic and confocal microscopic images of the same cell. the relation between the cell state, their morphological peculiarities and the phase characteristics of the measured cell is determined. Data thus acquired, quantitatively characterizing intra- and intercellular processes during the cell cycle, and the method of measurements can be used to investigate with high optic resolution the mechanisms of different physical, chemical and biomolecular interactions with the tumor cells

Early responses of human cancer cells upon photodynamic treatment monitoring by laser phase microscopy

Photodynamic treatment of cancer cells is known to eventually cause cell death in most cases. The precise pathways and the time course seem to vary among different cell types and modes of photodynamic treatment. In this contribution, the focus was put on the responses of human colon carcinoma cells HCT-116 within the first 15 minutes after laser irradiation in the presence of Photofrin« II (PII). To monitor the cell response in this early time period laser phase microscopic imaging was used, a method sensitive to changes in overall cell shape and intracellular structures, mediated by changes in the local refractive index. Laser irradiation of cells loaded with PII induced a significant reduction of the phase shifts, which probably reflects the induced damage to the different cellular membrane structures. The data suggest that even within the first 30 s after the onset of laser illumination, a significant reduction of the phase shifts can be detected. These results underline that laser phase microscopy is a suitable diagnostic tool for cellular research, also in the early time domain

Study of nanoparticles interaction with biological tissues using comparative optical-spectroscopic methods

Abstract Recent development of nanoparticles bio-medical applications is determined by perspectives of their use for multimodal bio-imaging and sensing. Informative and noninvasive optical-spectroscopic methods are designed for the detection and analysis of the NP interaction with target biological systems. Presented work is focused on study of nanoparticles interaction with biological tissues combining complimentary methods to obtain versatile optical-spectroscopic information