Genetically encoding stimulated raman-scattering probes for cell imaging using infrared fluorescent proteins

Regan, David ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0420-3481, Aksakal, Ozan, McLarnon, John J.K., Zitti, Athena, Lipka-Lloyd, Magdalena, Rizkallah, Pierre J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9290-0369, Warren, Anna J., Watson, Peter D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0250-7852, Langbein, Wolfgang ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9786-1023, Jones, D. Dafydd ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7709-3995 and Borri, Paola ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7873-3314 2026. Genetically encoding stimulated raman-scattering probes for cell imaging using infrared fluorescent proteins. The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters 17 (34) , pp. 9862-9868. 10.1021/acs.jpclett.6c02085

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Abstract

Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy offers great potential to surpass fluorescent-based approaches, owing to the sharp line width of Raman vibrations amenable to supermultiplex cell imaging, but currently lacks one crucial component: genetically encodable tags equivalent to fluorescent proteins. Here, we show that infrared fluorescent proteins (IRFPs) can be used as genetically encoded SRS probes and benefit from the electronic preresonant SRS enhancement effect with near-infrared exciting pulses, comparable to synthetic dyes reported in the literature. SRS imaging of the nucleus in mammalian cells is demonstrated where a histone protein is fused to an IRFP. This work opens the route toward Raman-based cell imaging using genetically encoded probes, motivating efforts in solving the challenges of photostability and creating a vibrational palette.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Medicine Schools > Physical, Chemical & Environmental Sciences Schools > Biosciences
Publisher:	American Chemical Society
ISSN:	1948-7185
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	12 August 2026
Date of Acceptance:	3 August 2026
Last Modified:	03 Sep 2026 08:37
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/188936

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