"Laser Scanning Chemical Bond Imaging of Metabolic Activities in Aging
and Diseases"

Lingyan Shi - UC San Diego

Metabolism is a complex biochemical process in living organisms that involves different biomolecules and consists of various reaction steps. To understand the multi-step biochemical reactions involving various components, it’s essential to elucidate in-situ dynamics and the correlations between different types of biomolecules at subcellular resolution. In this context, we integrated deuterium-probed pico-second laser scanning stimulated Raman Scattering (DO-SRS), multiphoton fluorescence (MPF), and second harmonic generation (SHG) into a single microscopy system to study metabolic activities in cells, tissues, and animals during aging and diseases. We further developed this multimodal microscopy into a super-resolution multiplex imaging platform using the Adam-based Pointillism Deconvolution (A-PoD) algorithm. By combining it with heavy water or deuterated metabolites probing (glucose, amino acids, fatty acids, etc.), we directly visualized the metabolic changes of various  biomolecules in animal organs such as the brain, adipose tissue, liver, muscle, and ovaries during aging processes (Mouse and Drosophila). We quantitatively analyzed the turnover rates of proteins and lipids, lipid unsaturation rates, and optical redox ratios in situ at the subcellular organelle scale. We also studied the spatially correlated distributions of various metabolites using a custom-designed analysis method. One of our key findings revealed that lipid turnover decreases earlier in aged female Drosophila compared to males. Additionally, we observed that dietary restriction and downregulation of the insulin/IGF-1 signaling (IIS) pathway, both known to extend lifespan, significantly enhanced brain lipid turnover in aging flies. This platform empowers researchers to quantitatively image various molecular events in the same region of interest. It provides powerful tools for early-stage disease detection, prognosis, and treatment, as well as for a deeper mechanistic understanding of the fundamentals of aging and diseases.

Sponsored By:

Lingyan Shi

"Tunable Metasurfaces and Their Applications In Optics"

Alberto Santonocito - University of Pisa and CNR (National Research Council)

Metasurfaces can be opportunely and specifically designed to manipulate electromagnetic wavefronts for many applications. In recent years, a wide variety of metasurface-based optical devices such as planar lenses, beam deflectors, polarization converters, and so on have been designed and fabricated. Of particular interest are tunable metasurfaces, which allow the modulation of the optical response in real time, for instance, the variation in the focal length of a converging metalens. Response tunability can be achieved through external sources that modify the permittivity of the materials constituting the nanoatoms, the substrate, or both, as well as their geometrical arrangement. The modulation sources can be classified into electromagnetic fields, thermal sources, mechanical stressors, and electrical bias. These stimuli by modifying the relative permittivity tensor allow the tuning of the matamaterials optical properties. A big variety of tunable materials have been used in metasurfaces engineering, such as transparent conductive oxides, ferroelectrics, phase change materials, liquid crystals, and semiconductors. Metasurfaces tuning is very advantageous for applications spanning from basic to applied optics for communications, depth sensing, holographic displays, and biochemical sensors.

Sponsored By:

Alberto Santonocito

"Taking Research To The Next Level: The  First Universal Tool For Forensic Body Fluid Traces"

Alexis Weber Ph.D. - SupreMEtric LLC

The Lednev Laboratory has revolutionized forensic science with a universal, nondestructive method for identifying all major body fluids, combining Raman spectroscopy and statistical modeling. This decade-long research, backed by NIJ funding, yields a reliable, nondestructive technique covering blood, semen, saliva, sweat, urine, and vaginal fluid. This applied research goal is market integration via SupreMEtric LLC, streamlining forensic analysis for public, federal, and private laboratories. This presentation explores the journey from academic research to commercialization, emphasizing SupreMEtric’s product values and potential for forensic biologists and serologists. Planned advancements for the technology will also be discussed.

Sponsored By:

Alexis Weber Ph.D.