O-PTIR (Optical Photothermal IR) in Alzheimer’s Disease Research
A scientific paper has been published using O-PTIR (Optical Photothermal Infrared spectroscopy) in Alzheimer’s Disease research. The new approach was used to study amyloid protein aggregation directly in neurons, without chemical processing.
The research was performed at Synchroton Soleil and the SMIS beamline by Lund University.
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A scientific paper has been published in Advanced Science about O-PTIR (Optical Photothermal Infrared spectroscopy) in Alzheimer’s Disease research. The research was conducted at Synchroton Soleil and the SMIS beamline by Oxana Klementieva from Lund University.
O-PTIR was used to measure amyloid beta protein structures in the neurons of Alzheimer’s Disease models. Features as small as 280nm were resolved with clear protein beta sheet structural differences.
Limitations of Current Methods
Loss of memory in neurodegenerative disorders is associated with neuronal loss and the aggregation of amyloid proteins into neurotoxic β‐sheet enriched structures.
This aggregation process is not fully understood. However, there are numerous difficulties involved with studying endogenous amyloid structures in neurons or in brain tissue. Current techniques require chemical processing or affect the amyloid protein structure. Ideally the molecular structures should be studied directly inside the neurons.
A New Approach
The paper describes a new approach using label‐free, super‐resolution O-PTIR micro-spectroscopy. The technique’s used to study Alzheimer’s Disease‐related amyloid protein aggregation directly in the neuron at sub‐micrometer resolution.
Amyloid protein aggregates were detected at a sub-cellular level, along the neurites and strikingly, in dendritic spines. This was not possible until now. A polymorphic type of amyloid structure was found in Alzheimer’s transgenic neurons.
The results suggest that structural polymorphism of amyloid proteins already occuring in neurons may trigger various disease progression mechanisms.
Read the Scientific Paper
The full scientific paper is available to read online, published by Advanced Science.
What is O-PTIR?
Optical Photothermal Infrared spectroscopy is a fast, non-contact optical technique that overcomes the IR diffraction limit.
A tunable, pulsed mid-IR laser is focused on the sample’s surface. This causes photothermal effects, which are then measured using a visible probe laser.
This technique has many advantages, overcoming several limitations of infrared:
- Sub-micron spatial resolution.
- Non-contact technique – fast and easy to use.
- Spectra are comparable to FTIR, without the dispersive artifacts of ATR.
- No need for thin samples; there’s little or no sample preparation, making the process faster.
A co-inventor of O-PTIR won the 2019 Lippincott Award for scientific innovation in vibrational spectroscopy – more details…
In life science, O-PTIR can be used for sub-micron chemical analysis and imaging of live cells in water, red blood cells, mineral distribution in bone, single bacteria and many more niological applications – more details…
mIRage IR Microscope
- Sub-micron IR spectroscopy and imaging.
- Bridges the gap between conventional IR micro-spectroscopy and nanoscale IR spectroscopy.
- Simultaneous IR and Raman.
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