"Characterization of biological systems with vibrational spectroscopy, microspectroscopy, and computational modelling"

“利用振动光谱学、显微光谱学和计算建模来表征生物系统”

• 批准号: 193741-2012
• 负责人: Gough, Kathleen
• 金额: $ 2.55万
• 依托单位: University of Manitoba
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2016-01-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=593676
• 关键词: Characterization; biological; systems; vibrational; spectroscopy

In my research group, we use visible and infrared light to probe the composition of matter. This technique, called vibrational spectroscopy, works on the principle that molecules are a lot like tuning forks. When struck against something solid, like a table, a tuning fork vibrates. To make molecules vibrate, we target them with the energy stored in photons of light. If the wavelength is just right, a molecule can absorb that energy and begin to vibrate: bonds stretch, twist and rock. Every molecule absorbs a single, unique set of light energies that depend on the number and type of atoms and the ways in which these atoms are connected to each other. This absorption pattern is a molecular signature, called a spectrum. My students learn how to work backward from these signatures to get information about the molecular structure and composition of our samples. Even more information can be obtained from the amount of light that is absorbed; the total ultimately depends on how much of each component is present. A major advance in the last decade has been the successful coupling of basic instruments to an optically-matched microscope with a CCD-style camera detector. With assistance from NSERC funding, two collaborators and I acquired a Raman microscope (laser light) and an Infrared microscope, to establish the Spectral Microscopy Imaging Laboratory (SMILab) at the University of Manitoba. Taking advantage of the most advanced optical and infrared instrumentation, my students and I will use my Discovery Grant to characterize spectral signatures from microorganisms (fungi, lichen, sea ice algae), from Central Nervous System tissue, and from living cells. Our research success will help us to identify microorganisms that produce valuable natural products, give us better knowledge on the influence of light and nutrient stress on microorganisms in Canada's arctic, and produce practical devices and protocols for imaging the chemistry of living cells at biologically relevant length and time scales. Together, our advances will bring spectrochemical imaging into mainstream practice. My students will gain skills that contribute to the Canadian economy, benefit Arctic ecology and lead to new opportunities in biotechnology and other industries.

在我的研究小组中，我们使用可见和红外光来探测物质的组成。这种称为振动光谱的技术是根据分子很像调谐叉的原理。当撞击固体（例如桌子）时，调谐叉会振动。为了使分子振动，我们用存储在光的光子中的能量将它们靶向。如果波长恰到好处，则分子可以吸收该能量并开始振动：键拉伸，扭曲和岩石。每个分子都会吸收一组独特的光能集，这些光能取决于原子的数量和类型以及这些原子相互连接的方式。这种吸收模式是一种分子特征，称为光谱。我的学生学习如何从这些签名中向后工作，以获取有关样品的分子结构和组成的信息。从吸收的光量中可以获得更多信息；总数最终取决于每个组件的存在。在过去的十年中，主要的进步是将基本仪器与CCD式摄像机检测器的光学匹配显微镜成功耦合。在NSERC资助的协助下，我和两名合作者获得了拉曼显微镜（激光光）和一个红外显微镜，以在曼尼托巴省大学建立光谱显微镜成像实验室（Smilab）。利用最先进的光学和红外仪器，我和我的学生将使用我的发现赠款来表征来自中枢神经系统组织和活细胞的微生物（真菌，地衣，海冰藻）的光谱特征。我们的研究成功将有助于我们确定生产有价值的天然产品的微生物，使我们对加拿大北极中光和营养应激对微生物的影响有了更好的了解，并生成实用的设备和方案，以成像生物学相关长度的活细胞化学。和时间尺度。我们的进步共同将光谱化学成像带入主流实践。我的学生将获得有助于加拿大经济的技能，使北极生态受益，并带来生物技术和其他行业的新机会。