Joyce Mowry
Gallatin High School
AP Biology, Honors Biology
Biomedical Optics Lab

Anita Mahadevan-Jansen 

One of the long-term projects of the biomedical optics lab was to determine the efficacy of Raman spectroscopy for the detection of cervical cancer.  That is, ultimately this lab hoped to create an inexpensive, physician-friendly method of detecting pre-cancerous (CIN) and cancerous cervical cells to be used at the time of the pelvic exam.  This fast detection, followed by immediate treatment, would be a medical boon, especially to rural, third-world countries.  

Having obtained cervical cells from patients,  I cultured them using raft cell protocol.  I then used these normal epithelial cells and cervical cancer cells for in vitro comparative Raman studies. 

When light hits a molecule and interacts with its valence electrons, it raises these electrons to an elevated vibrational energy state.  The Raman activity is then visualized as peaks in the corresponding Raman spectra.  This spectra is very specific, allowing for a fingerprint-ID analysis. The confocal microscope which uses Raman microscopy consists of a standard microscope, a laser providing the excitation light, and a detector which measures the light which passes through a pinhole.  By having this confocal pinhole and scanning many thin sections of the tissue, a very clean 3-D image can be obtained. 

We found that single-cell Raman spectra provide a biomolecular fingerprint for each cell type.  Characteristic peaks due to differences in protein and DNA concentrations allowed us to discern normal cell from the cancerous cells.  These results demonstrate the potential application of confocal Raman spectroscopy as a clinical tool for cancer detection. 

I am particularly interested in cell signaling.  My students will be investigating the signal transduction pathway as it pertains to the maintenance of normal cell cycle as well as to the propagation of pre-cancerous and cancerous cells.  My data and experiences will support and enhance my students' efforts.