Spectral tracing of deuterium for imaging glucose metabolism

Nat Biomed Eng. 2019 May;3(5):402-413. doi: 10.1038/s41551-019-0393-4. Epub 2019 Apr 29.

Abstract

Cells and tissues often display pronounced spatial and dynamical metabolic heterogeneity. Common glucose-imaging techniques report glucose uptake or catabolism activity, yet do not trace the functional utilization of glucose-derived anabolic products. Here we report a microscopy technique for the optical imaging, via the spectral tracing of deuterium (STRIDE), of diverse macromolecules derived from glucose. Based on stimulated Raman-scattering imaging, STRIDE visualizes the metabolic dynamics of newly synthesized macromolecules, such as DNA, protein, lipids and glycogen, via the enrichment and distinct spectra of carbon-deuterium bonds transferred from the deuterated glucose precursor. STRIDE can also use spectral differences derived from different glucose isotopologues to visualize temporally separated glucose populations using a pulse-chase protocol. We also show that STRIDE can be used to image glucose metabolism in many mouse tissues, including tumours, brain, intestine and liver, at a detection limit of 10 mM of carbon-deuterium bonds. STRIDE provides a high-resolution and chemically informative assessment of glucose anabolic utilization.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Animals, Newborn
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Deuterium / chemistry*
  • Glucose / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Intestines
  • Lipids / biosynthesis
  • Macromolecular Substances / metabolism
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mice, Nude
  • Optical Imaging / methods*
  • Protein Biosynthesis
  • Spectrum Analysis, Raman

Substances

  • Lipids
  • Macromolecular Substances
  • Deuterium
  • Glucose