Probing oxidative stress in single erythrocytes with Raman Tweezers

E. Zachariah, A. Bankapur, C. Santhosh, M. Valiathan and D. Mathur

Raman Tweezers have been successfully applied to characterize chemically-induced oxidative stress on optically-trapped live, single erythrocytes. There is significant enhancement in Raman peak intensities corresponding to S=S and C–S stretching modes that are induced by oxidative stress. This is consistent with the formation of mixed disulphides between protein SH groups and low-molecular-mass thiols such as glutathione during oxidative damage to cells. Enhancement in glutathione level as a protective response against oxidative stress has been observed. Principal component analysis of the data yields good discrimination between spectra of normal and stress-induced red blood cells.

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