Shifting light spectra (IMAGE)

Boston Children's Hospital

Shifting light spectra

Caption

These Raman spectroscopy images show the intensity and wavelengths of reflected light from each of three cellular proteins -- mitochondrial cytochrome, myoglobin and hemoglobin -- when a laser is shined on the cell. The light spectra produced when the proteins are oxygenated are shown in red, de-oxygenated in blue. The different oxygen conditions cause differences in the bending and stretching of chemical bonds in the proteins' porphyrin rings, scattering the light differently. Raman spectroscopy thus provides an index of how much oxygen the mitochondria are receiving relative to the cell's energy needs.

Credit

Dr. John Kheir, Boston Children's Hospital & Shutterstock

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