ULTRA-VIOLET REFRACTOMETRY OF LIVE CELLS FOR QUANTITATIVE DNA ANALYSIS

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

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Abstract

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Interferometric phase microscopy has been widely applied to living cell studies due to its inherent ability to map refractive index variation without exogenous contrast. However, in general these variations are rather weak and does not provide a strong contrast in differentiation of various organelles, but instead only provide their overall biomolecular content. In order to increase refractive index based contrast, we moved into the ultraviolet region of the light spectrum, where protein and DNA show substantial difference in absorption. Based on Kramers-Kronig relationship, we expect that their refractive index dispersion will also be markedly different and therefore can be utilized separate quantification of cellular protein and DNA content in live cell quantitative phase imaging.