Karin Schutze
CellTool GmbH, Germany
Title: Lights on - Raman approach in stem cell research and medicine
Biography
Biography: Karin Schutze
Abstract
In the last years, the field of stem cell medicine has opened unforeseen therapeutic opportunities. In order to ensure functionality and safety of cell based therapies used for patient care, methods allowing reliable quality control during all steps of product development are essential. Raman Spectroscopy (RS) is a highly sensitive technology increasingly used for biomedical applications like cell identification, diffentiation and characterization, as well as quality control of cell based products as it reveals detailed information on the metabolic state of living single cells in a label-free and non-invasive way. Here, we demonstrate that RS is a valuable tool also in stem cell research and medicine. It helps to understand basic cellular processes, to ensure quality of cell based products and to improve current gold standard methods. We provide latest data from Raman analyses of single cells as well as of 3D cell culture and tissues, including investigations on retina tissue, insights on the influence of stem cell freezing and quality control of chondrocytes and blood products, showing that this non-invasive approach provides new insights on the whole metabolome of cells which help to improve and secure approaches in stem cell medicine.