Water is arguably the most common and yet least understood material on Earth. Understanding of the spatial and compositional heterogeneity of water inside cells remains elusive, largely due to lack of proper water mapping tools with high sensitivity and spatial resolution. Here we will present a novel technique of stimulated Raman excited fluorescence (SREF) which integrates ultimate single-molecule detection sensitivity and fine chemical specificity. Further, we extend and develop SREF into a live-cell water-sensing tool, by coupling with the vibrational solvatochromism of an environment-sensitive Raman mode. This technique allows us to directly visualize spatially-resolved distribution of water states inside single living cells with unprecedented sptial and spectral resolution. Interesting observations of intracellular water heterogeneity in the context of "biological water" will be discussed.

Imaging biological water inside single living cells by stimulated Raman excited fluorescence microsocpy

ACS Fall 2020 Virtual Meeting

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