BB48CH15_Min ARjats.cls April 16, 2019 13:8 Annual Review of Biophysics Raman Imaging of Small Biomolecules Yihui Shen, Fanghao Hu, and Wei Min Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA; email:
[email protected] Annu. Rev. Biophys. 2019. 48:347–69 Keywords First published as a Review in Advance on Raman microscopy, small molecule imaging, vibrational tags, lipid March 20, 2019 metabolism, drug imaging The Annual Review of Biophysics is online at biophys.annualreviews.org Abstract Access provided by Columbia University on 06/21/19. For personal use only. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-biophys-052118- Imaging techniques greatly facilitate the comprehensive knowledge of Annu. Rev. Biophys. 2019.48:347-369. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org 115500 biological systems. Although imaging methodology for biomacromolecules Copyright © 2019 by Annual Reviews. such as protein and nucleic acids has been long established, micro- All rights reserved scopic techniques and contrast mechanisms are relatively limited for small biomolecules, which are equally important participants in biological pro- cesses. Recent developments in Raman imaging, including both microscopy and tailored vibrational tags, have created exciting opportunities for non- invasive imaging of small biomolecules in living cells, tissues, and organ- isms. Here, we summarize the principle and workflow of small-biomolecule imaging by Raman microscopy. Then, we review recent efforts in imaging, for example, lipids, metabolites, and drugs. The unique advantage of Raman imaging has been manifested in a variety of applications that have provided novel biological insights. 347 BB48CH15_Min ARjats.cls April 16, 2019 13:8 Contents THENEEDFORIMAGINGSMALLBIOMOLECULES........................ 348 IMAGINGSMALLMOLECULESBYVIBRATIONALCONTRAST............. 349 LINEAR AND NONLINEAR RAMAN SCATTERING SPECTROSCOPY ANDMICROSCOPY.........................................................