This PDF file contains the front matter associated with SPIE Proceedings Volume 9719, including the Title Page, Copyright information, Table of Contents, and Conference Committee listing.

The precise control of light–matter interactions is crucial for the majority of known biological organisms in their struggle to survive. Many species have evolved unique methods to manipulate light in their environment using a variety of physical effects including pigment-induced, spectrally selective absorption or light interference in photonic structures that consist of micro- and nano-periodic material morphologies. In their optical performance, many of the known biological photonic systems are subject to selection criteria not unlike the requirements faced in the development of novel optical technology. For this reason, biological light manipulation strategies provide inspiration for the creation of tunable, stimuli-responsive, adaptive material platforms that will contribute to the development of multifunctional surfaces and innovative optical technology. Biomimetic and bio-inspired approaches for the manufacture of photonic systems rely on self-assembly and bottom-up growth techniques often combined with conventional top-down manufacturing. In this regard, we can benefit in several ways from highly sophisticated material solutions that have convergently evolved in various organisms. We explore design concepts found in biological photonic architectures, seek to understand the mechanisms underlying morphogenesis of bio-optical systems, aim to devise viable manufacturing strategies that can benefit from insight in biological formation processes and the use of established synthetic routines alike, and ultimately strive to realize new photonic materials with tailor-made optical properties. This talk is focused on the identification of biological role model photonic architectures, a brief discussion of recently developed bio-inspired photonic structures, including mechano-sensitive color-tunable photonic fibers and reconfigurable fluid micro-lenses. Potentially, early-stage results in studying and harnessing the structure-forming capabilities of living cells that lie at the origin of many species’ ability to grow photonic materials will also be presented.

External beam radiotherapy utilizes high energy radiation to target cancer with dynamic, patient-specific treatment plans. The otherwise invisible radiation beam can be observed via the optical Cherenkov photons emitted from interaction between the high energy beam and tissue. Using a specialized camera-system, the Cherenkov emission can thus be used to track the radiation beam on the surface of the patient in real-time, even for complex cases such as volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT). Two patients undergoing VMAT of the head and neck were imaged and analyzed, and the viability of the system to provide clinical feedback was established.

Otoliths play an important role in Zebrafish in terms of hearing and sense of balance. Many studies have been conducted to understand its structure and function, however the encoding of its movement in the brain remains unknown. Here we developed a noninvasive system capable of manipulating the otolith using optical trapping while we image its behavioral response and brain activity. We’ll also present our tools for behavioral response detection and brain activity mapping. Acceleration is sensed through movements of the otoliths in the inner ear. Because experimental manipulations involve movements, electrophysiology and fluorescence microscopy are difficult. As a result, the neural codes underlying acceleration sensation are poorly understood. We have developed a technique for optically trapping otoliths, allowing us to simulate acceleration in stationary larval zebrafish. By applying forces to the otoliths, we can elicit behavioral responses consistent with compensation for perceived acceleration. Since the animal is stationary, we can use calcium imaging in these animals’ brains to identify the functional circuits responsible for mediating responses to acceleration in natural settings.

Our study examines the transmission characteristics of bi-tapered optical fibers, i.e. fibers that have a tapered down and up span with a waist length separating them. The applications to aqueous and vapor phase biomolecular sensing demand high sensitivity. A bi-tapered optical fiber platform is suited for label-free biomolecular detection and can be optimized by modification of the length, diameter and surface properties of the tapered region. We have developed a phase sensitive method based on interference of two or more modes of the fiber and we demonstrate that our fiber sensitivity is of order 10^-4 refractive index units. Higher sensitivity can be achieved, as needed, by enhancing the fiber design characteristics.

Biophotonic studies based on partial wave spectroscopy have shown that early carcinogenesis is characterized by a change in the nanoscale molecular organization of the cell nuclii. These finding suggest that cancer is associated with change in macromolecular crowding. In this presentation we will discuss a recent approach that we have developed to incorporate molecular scale information into a systems based approach to study the role of macromolecular crowding on different phenomena ranging from protein diffusion to gene transcription. Macromolecular crowding affects both dynamics and equilibrium properties. We will show that transcription is a non-monotonic function of crowders concentration in the cell nuclei. Furthermore, we will show how changes in macromolecular crowding in the nuclei and in the cytoplasm lead to different changes in the oscillatory behavior on NF-κB upon stimuli. Our results show the important regulatory role that non-specific interactions play in biological systems.

Catalytic RNAs, like the group IIB intron ribozyme of S. cerevesiae, require a high magnesium(II) concentration to show folding and function in vitro [1]. In contrast, in vivo conditions are characterized by a highly crowded cellular environment and much lower ion concentration. Molecular crowding agents are a widespread tool to mimic cellular crowding [2]. However, particular physical/chemical properties explaining the crowders influence are mostly not understood. In this study, we gain new insights on how polymer properties like viscosity, pore size etc. influence the activity and folding of a large RNA. We combined bulk activity assays and single-molecule Förster Resonance Energy Transfer experiments, screening the PEG volume fraction (%) and molecular weight (MW). Our results revealed that upon the influence of crowding agents, a compaction of the underlying structure depends on the PEG % and the presence of different PEG MW and % unveiled an optimal pore size in terms of catalytic activity. In summary, an increasing density of the crowding environment shifts the RNA towards the most compact state, but the ribozyme is only active if the crowders network matches its size [4]. We interpret the most compact state as necessary, but not sufficient, to keep the ribozyme active. Financial support from the European Research Council (MIRNA N° 259092, to RKOS), the Swiss National Fund (SNF), and the Forschungskredit Grant of the University of Zürich (FK-14-096 and 15-092 to RB) are gratefully acknowledged. [1] Swisher J.F., Su L.J., Brenowitz M., Anderson V.E., Pyle A.M., J. Mol. Bio., 315, 297-310 (2002). [2] Kilburn D., Roh J.H., Guo L., Briber R.M., Woodson S.A., JACS, 132, 8690-6 (2010). [3] Steiner M., Karunatilaka K.S., Sigel R.K.O., Rueda D., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.,105, 13853-8 (2008). [4] aBörner R, Fiorini E, Sigel R.K.O., Chimia, 69, 207-212 (2015).; bFiorini E., Paudel B., Börner R., Rueda D., Sigel R.K.O., submitted. [5] König S.L.B., Hadzic M., Fiorini E., Börner R., Kowerko D., Blanckenhorn W.U., Sigel R.K.O., PLoS ONE, 8, e84157 (2013).

The molecular mechanism of interaction between SDS and proteins is not clearly understood so far. According to the current knowledge SDS is known to interact with the hydrophobic regions of the proteins. Tryptophan and tyrosine are hydrophobic and hydrophilic aromatic amino acids respectively, which are also known for their intrinsic fluorescence nature in proteins. By observing the autofluorescence of both these hydrophobic and hydrophilic amino acids upon SDS treatment, information about SDS-protein interactions could be obtained. In the present study we have recorded the autofluorescence spectra of five globular proteins [Bovine serum albumin (BSA), Human serum albumin (HSA), Ribonuclease A (RNase A), Lysozyme and Trypsin] by the sequential excitation from 260nm to 295nm at every 5nm intervals. The results obtained clearly indicated BSA and HSA undergone hydrophobic collapse around their tryptophan moieties due to the increased folding of their secondary and tertiary structures upon SDS treatment. Trypsin on the other hand showed complete unfolding upon treatment with SDS. Lysozyme and RNase A did not show any difference in their autofluorescence upon SDS treatment may be due to the stability and fluorophores composition in them. The above results obtained with specific UV excitations clearly shown the tertiary folding and ensembles of the secondary and tertiary structures upon SDS treatment is governed by their stability and bonds stabilizing the proteins.

The aim of this study is to investigate the structural organization and oligomerization properties of the sensory kinase protein DevS using low-angle light scattering (LALS) and gel filtration chromatography (HPLC). In addition, the structural characteristics of FixL and BSA were investigated and compared with DevS to better elucidate LALS technique. DevS is a direct and specific O₂ sensing protein in Mycobacterium tuberculosis and acts as an activator of the transcription factor protein DevR. This latter triggers the latency state of tuberculosis under hypoxic conditions. DevS has been briefly evaluated under different conditions of concentration, ionic strength and temperature. LALS and gel filtration (HPLC) analysis were performed right after DevS purification process. The results of LALS for BSA proved to be highly reliable with a R_h value of c.a. 3.7 nm. Considering BSA a globular protein, the molecular weight estimative, using LALS was near 67 KDa, which is reasonably within the value reported in the literature. Preliminary LALS results showed a hydrodynamic radius (R_h) varying from 4.2-15.0 nm for DevS protein, and an average of 6.7 nm. These data supported, along with gel filtration, a dimer (~130 KDa) and tetramer (255 KDa) as the main DevS species. Additionally, it was found higher oligomeric species by gel filtration suggesting either an equilibrium of oligomers or an aggregation process that deserves further studies.

Numerous methods have been developed to quantify the light scattering properties of tissue. These properties are of interest in diagnostic and screening applications due to sensitivity to changes in tissue ultrastructure and changes associated with disease such as cancer. Tissue is considered a weak scatterer because that the mean free path is much larger than the correlation length. When this is the case, all scattering properties can be calculated from the refractive index correlation function Bn(r). Direct measurement of Bn(r) is challenging because it requires refractive index measurement at high resolution over a large tissue volume. Instead, a model is usually assumed. One particularly useful model, the Whittle-Matern function includes several realistic function types such as mass fractal and exponential. Optical scattering properties for weakly scattering media can be determined analytically from Bn(r) by applying the Rayleigh-Gans-Debye (RGD) or Born Approximation, and so measured scattering properties are used to fit parameters of the model function. Direct measurement of Bn(r) would provide confirmation that the function is a good representation of tissue or help in identifying the length scale at which changes occur. The RGD approximation relates the scattering phase function to the refractive index correlation function through a Fourier transform. This can be inverted without approximation, so goniometric measurement of the scattering can be converted to Bn(r). However, geometric constraints of the measurement of the phase function, angular resolution, and wavelength result in a band limited measurement of Bn(r). These limits are discussed and example measurements are described.

There are a large number of sensing techniques which use optical changes to monitor interactions between molecules. In the absence of fluorophores or other labels, the basic signal transduction mechanism relies on refractive index changes arising from the interactions of the molecules involved. A quantitative model incorporating molecular transport, reaction kinetics and optical mixing is presented which reveals important insights concerning the optimal detection of molecular interactions optically. Although conceptually simple, a comprehensive model such as this has not been reported anywhere. Specifically, we investigate the pros and cons of detecting molecular interactions in free solution relative to detecting molecular interactions on surfaces using surface bound receptor molecules such as antibodies. The model reveals that the refractive index change produced in surface based sensors is 2-3 orders of magnitude higher than that from interactions in free solution. On the other hand, the model also reveals that it is indeed possible to distinguish specific molecular interactions from non-specific ones based on free-solution bulk refractometry without any washing step necessary in surface based sensors. However, the refractive index change for free solution interactions predicted by the model is smaller than 10^-7 RIU, even for large proteins such as IgG in sufficiently high concentrations. This value is smaller than the typical 10^-6 RIU detection limit of most state of the art optical sensing techniques therefore requiring techniques with substantially higher index sensitivity such as Back Scattering Interferometry.

We recently developed a nonlinear optical imaging technique based on second harmonic generation (SHG) to identify membrane disruption events in live cells. This technique was used to detect nanoporation in the plasma membrane following nanosecond pulsed electric field (nsPEF) exposure. It has been hypothesized that similar poration events could be induced by the thermal gradients generated by infrared (IR) laser energy. Optical pulses are a highly desirable stimulus for the nervous system, as they are capable of inhibiting and producing action potentials in a highly localized but non-contact fashion. However, the underlying mechanisms involved with infrared neural stimulation (INS) are not well understood. The ability of our method to non-invasively measure membrane structure and transmembrane potential via Two Photon Fluorescence (TPF) make it uniquely suited to neurological research. In this work, we leverage our technique to understand what role membrane structure plays during INS and contrast it with nsPEF stimulation. We begin by examining the effect of IR pulses on CHO-K1 cells before progressing to primary hippocampal neurons. The use of these two cell lines allows us to directly compare poration as a result of IR pulses to nsPEF exposure in both a neuron-derived cell line, and one likely lacking native channels sensitive to thermal stimuli.

We present a new Monte Carlo based approach for the modelling of Bidirectional Scattering-Surface Reflectance Distribution Function (BSSRDF) for accurate rendering of human skin appearance. The variations of both skin tissues structure and the major chromophores are taken into account correspondingly to the different ethnic and age groups. The computational solution utilizes HTML5, accelerated by the graphics processing units (GPUs), and therefore is convenient for the practical use at the most of modern computer-based devices and operating systems. The results of imitation of human skin reflectance spectra, corresponding skin colours and examples of 3D faces rendering are presented and compared with the results of phantom studies.

Quantitative phase imaging provides nanometer scale sensitivity and has been previously used to study spectral and temporal characteristics of individual cells in vitro, especially red blood cells. Here we extend this work to study the mechanical responses of individual cells due to the influence of external stimuli. Cell stiffness may be characterized by analyzing the inherent thermal fluctuations of cells but by applying external stimuli, additional information can be obtained. The time dependent response of cells due to external shear stress is examined with high speed quantitative phase imaging and found to exhibit characteristics that relate to their stiffness. However, analysis beyond the cellular scale also reveals internal organization of the cell and its modulation due to pathologic processes such as carcinogenesis. Further studies with microfluidic platforms point the way for using this approach in high throughput assays.

We propose a novel fluorescence microscopy technique to study the adhesion of Giant Unilamellar Vesicles. Their adhesion is assessed through the normalization of Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence (TIRF) images by epi-fluorescence ones. This can be achieved by using a motorized rotatable mirror to switch from epi-fluorescence to TIRF. This method allows us to study the vesicle adhesion from ultra-weak to strong membrane surface interactions and to measure the absolute distance between the vesicles and various chemically functionalized glass substrates at the nanoscale.

Commonly used cytotoxicity assays to determine the formation of reactive oxygen species, cell viability or cell death are often affected by applied nanomaterials, which lead to false-positive or false-negative results. Thus, novel nanomaterial toxicity testing strategies that allow for high nanomaterial doses to determine Low Effect Levels (LOEL) even of low toxic materials are of high interest. We demonstrate novel approaches to quantify cytotoxic effects with new parameter sets such as cellular refractive index, volume, density and dry mass that are obtained by digital holographic microscopy (DHM). Furthermore, we correlate results obtained from spherical (NM 300) and rod shaped (NM 302) silver nanomaterials with established cell viability and cell death assays. Moreover, in a label-free flow cytometry configuration, cell-nanoparticle-interaction-kinetics were determined by side scatter signal analysis. We demonstrate that silver spheres show a higher cytotoxicity than silver rods and found that this effect correlates with a decrease of the intracellular refractive index and a decreased temporal development of dry mass and cell covered surface area indicating reduced cell viability and increased cell death. Results from side scatter analysis suggest a dose-dependent uptake kinetics of both materials that correlates with cytotoxicity data of the established assays. Taken together, our results demonstrate DHM and flow cytometry as promising novel label-free tools for nanomaterial toxicity and cell particle interaction studies.

Measurement of relative fluorescence intensities of NAD(P)H and FAD with fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) allows metabolic characterization of cancerous populations and correlation to treatment response. However, quiescent populations of cancer cells introduce heterogeneity to the tumor and exhibit resistance to standard therapies, requiring a better understanding of this influence on treatment outcome. Significant differences were observed between proliferating and quiescent cell populations upon comparison of respective redox ratios (p<0.05) and FAD lifetimes (p<0.05) across monolayers and in mixed samples. These results demonstrate that metabolic activity may function as a marker for separation and characterization of proliferating and quiescent cancer cells within mixed samples, contributing to comprehensive investigation of heterogeneity-dependent drug resistance.

The role of extracellular matrix modification and signaling in cancer progression is an increasingly recognized avenue for the progression of the disease. Previous study of field effect carcinogenesis with Inverse Spectroscopic Optical Coherence Tomography (ISOCT) has revealed pronounced changes in the nanoscale-sensitive mass fractal dimension D measured from field effect tissue when compared to healthy tissue. However, the origin of this difference in tissue ultrastructure in field effect carcinogenesis has remained poorly understood. Here, we present findings supporting the idea that enzymatic crosslinking of the extracellular matrix is an effect that presents at the earliest stages of carcinogenesis. We use a model of collagen gel with crosslinking induced by lysyl oxidase (LOXL4) to recapitulate the difference in D previously reported from healthy and cancerous tissue biopsies. Furthermore, STORM imaging of this collagen gel model verifies the morphologic effects of enzymatic crosslinking at length scales as small as 40 nm, close to the previously reported lower length scale sensitivity threshold of 35 nm for ISOCT. Analysis of the autocorrelation function from STORM images of collagen gels and subsequent fitting to the Whittle-Matérn correlation function shows a similar effect of LOXL4 on D from collagen measured with ISOCT and STORM. We extend this to mass spectrometric study of tissue to directly measure concentrations of collagen crosslink residues. The validation of ISOCT as a viable tool for non-invasive rapid quantification of collagen ultrastructure lends it to study other physiological phenomena involving ECM restructuring such as atherosclerotic plaque screening or cervical ripening during pregnancy.

The oxygen-dependent absorption of hemoglobin provides the fundamental contrast for all label-free techniques measuring blood oxygenation. When hemoglobin is packaged into red blood cells (RBCs), the structure of the cells creates light scattering which also depends on the absorption based on the Kramers-Kronig relationship. Thus a proper characterization of the optical behaviors of blood has been a key to any accurate measurement of blood oxygenation, particularly at the capillary level where RBCs are dispersed individually in contrast to a densely packed whole blood. Here we provided a theoretical model under Born Approximation to characterize the oxygen dependent backscattering spectroscopic contrast from single RBCs. Using this theoretical model, we conducted simulations on both oxygenated and deoxygenated single RBCs with different sizes for standard and possible deformed cell geometries in blood flow, all which suggested similar backscattering spectroscopic contrast and were confirmed by Mie Theory and experiments using visible Optical Coherence Tomography (visOCT). As long as the cell size satisfies Gaussian distribution with a coefficient variance (C.V.) large enough, there is clear absorption contrast between the backscattering spectra of oxygenated and deoxygenated single RBCs calculated by this model, so oxygen saturation can then be characterized. Thus, this theoretical model can be extended to extract absorption features of other scattering particles as long as they satisfy Born Approximation.

Alterations in lymphatic network function contribute to the lymphedema development, cancer progression and impairment in regional immune function. However, there are limited tools available to directly measure lymphatic vessel function and transport in vivo. Existing approaches such as fluorescence recovery after photo-bleaching (FRAP) require injection of exogenous labels which intrinsically alter the physiology of the local lymphatic network. A label-free approach to imaging lymph flow in vivo would provide direct and unaltered measurements of lymphatic vessel transport and could catalyze research in lymphatic biology. Here, we demonstrate and validate the use of Doppler optical coherence tomography (DOCT) to measure lymph flow in vivo at speeds as low as 50µm/s. Compared to blood, lymph is relatively acellular (under normal conditions), but contains similar soluble components to blood plasma. We demonstrate that the small but detectable scattering signal from lymph can be used to extract fluid velocity using a dedicated algorithm optimized for Doppler analysis in low signal-to-noise settings (0 to 6 dB typical). We demonstrate the accuracy of this technique by comparing DOCT to FRAP measurements, using an intralipid lymph proxy in microfluidic devices and in vivo in the mouse ear. Finally, we demonstrate the label free measurement of lymph speed in the hind-limb of mice with a temporal resolution of 0.25s that agree well with prior literature reports. We anticipate that DOCT can become a powerful new tool in preclinical lymphatic biology research—including the relationship between lymphatic function and metastasis formation—with the potential to later expand also to clinical settings.

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the efficacy of using Brillouin spectroscopy for differentiation between healthy and cancerous tissues. Previous studies of various cancers indicate that elasticity of the tumor differs from that of the surrounding tissue. We hypothesize that it is possible to distinguish between normal and malignant areas based on their Brillouin measurements. Brillouin spectroscopy is an emerging spectroscopic technique capable of assessing the local elasticity of samples by measuring the Brillouin shift. In the present study, we have used malignant melanoma tissue samples from Sinclair miniature swine to demonstrate the validity of our proposed application. We performed Brillouin measurements on healthy tissue, normal tumor and regressing tumor (as indicated by depigmentation of tissue). Overall, the tumors were found to be stiffer than the surrounding healthy tissue. However, the regressing tumor displayed the elastic properties closer to that of the healthy tissue. Based on the Brillouin measurements, we have successfully differentiated between the tumor and healthy tissues with a high degree of confidence (p<10⁴ for normal tumor, p<0.05 for regressing tumor). Our results indicate that Brillouin spectroscopy is an appropriate tool to not only pinpoint tumor boundaries, but also to monitor tumor growth or evaluate its response to treatment.