In a recently published paper, researchers from Umeå University in Sweden describe a non-invasive method to study the pancreas during the development of diabetes. The method relies on molecular spectroscopy to extract biochemical profiles that convey information about disease progression.
Vibrational microspectroscopic technology was used for this study, including Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) and Raman microspectroscopy. These technologies can detect a compound’s unique molecular vibrations using infrared light or laser. These vibrations provide information about a sample's chemical composition, including molecular characteristics, prevalence, and structure.
"This method is well-suited for studying biological samples, since it does not damage the sample, does not require external markers such as antibody labels, and can be used in microscopy settings. The method can, for example, be used to determine which cell types are affected in a certain tissue, where and how," says András Gorzsás, researcher in the department of chemistry and co-author of the article.
Molecular vibration data can be challenging to sort through due to the vast amounts of complex data generated. Using multivariate statistical analysis, the team was able to handle the multiple variables simultaneously while filtering out “noise”, such as natural vibrations. This method, which has been primarily used to study plant tissues in the past, allowed the researchers to discover previously unknown biochemical changes in the pancreas during disease development. The team was also able to demonstrate its utility for detecting previously known tissue changes earlier than other techniques.
Unlike other methods of analysis, this technique can be used to analyze a mouse or human pancreas from outside of the organ without needing to obtain tissue samples thus giving researchers new ways to study diabetes development and manifestation. The authors also hope this technique may someday be useful as a diagnostic and prognostic tool for diabetes and other afflictions of the pancreas.
Image: The digitally produced image illustrates how biochemical changes in the pancreas may be studied with the described method, without the need for labeling with external markers. The green structures correspond to an accumulation of beta-sheet proteins that indicate the development of type 2 diabetes. Image courtesy of Ulf Ahlgren, Umeå University.