Real-time biochemical response upon chemical stimulation of living monocytes investigated by fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy (μ-FTIR)

This paper aims to present novel results on biomedical applications of FTIR microspectroscopy (μ-FTIR) in the field of real-time investigation of biochemical processes occurring within living cells under physiological conditions. During the past years, our group optimized fabrication strategies on IR-VIS transparent materials for the realization of new micro-fluidic devices. We further improved the experimental setup by fabricating a fully functional IR-VIS transparent micro-fluidic chip. This system allowed us to follow the response of circulating white-blood cells to the chemical stimuli induced by fMLP (Formyl-Methionyl-Leucyl-Phenylalanine) cytokine, simulating an inflammation process. Transcription phenomena, new protein synthesis and increased cell membrane fluidity were monitored within the first minutes of stimulation, demonstrating the applicability of μ-FTIR in studying living systems.