Confocal light absorption and scattering spectroscopic microscopy monitors organelles in live cells with no exogenous labels.

This article reports the development of an optical imaging technique, confocal light absorption and scattering spectroscopic (CLASS) microscopy, capable of noninvasively determining the dimensions and other physical properties of single subcellular organelles. CLASS microscopy combines the principles of light-scattering spectroscopy (LSS) with confocal microscopy. LSS is an optical technique that relates the spectroscopic properties of light elastically scattered by small particles to their size, refractive index, and shape.

Confocal light absorption and scattering spectroscopic microscopy.

We have developed a novel optical method for observing submicrometer intracellular structures in living cells, which is called confocal light absorption and scattering spectroscopic (CLASS) microscopy. It combines confocal microscopy, a well-established high-resolution microscopic technique, with light-scattering spectroscopy. CLASS microscopy requires no exogenous labels and is capable of imaging and continuously monitoring individual viable cells, enabling the observation of cell and organelle functioning at scales of the order of 100 nm.