Introduction to Rarnan spectroscopy

Incident laser ( I0 , 0) Reflection ( IR , 0) Transmission ( It , 0) Scattered Radiation Rayleigh (0) Particles

The energy of the incident photon is unaltered after collision with a molecule, the scattered photon has the same frequency as the incident

Raman (0 R) Molecular rotations,vibrations and electronic transitions

The energy is transferred either from the molecule to the photon or vice versa, the scattered photon has less or more than the energy of the incident photon inelastic or Raman scattering.

photon elastic or Rayleigh scattering

The scattered photon has less energy then the incident photon stokes Raman Scatering. The scattered photon has more energy then the incident photon stokes AntiRaman Scatering.

The variation in the frequency between the emitted energy and the scattered light depends on the mass of the molecule and the bond strength between them.

It is possibility to identify any constituent of a biological sample through its optic properties.

Raman Spectrum
A Raman spectrum is a plot (conjunto) of scattered intensity as a function of the energy difference between the incident and scattered photons.

The loss (or gain) in photon energies corresponds to the difference in the final and initial vibrational energy levels of molecules participating in the interaction. The resultant spectra are characterized by shifts in wavenumbers (inverse of wavelength in cm-1) from the incident frequency.

Cancer Biology
Neoplasia (or cancer) New growth Neoplastic cell Specific changes Nuclear to cytoplasmic ratio

Nucleic acid

Diferentiation Nuclear material

Mitotic activity

Protein Lipid Carbohydrate quantizes and/or conformation

Abnormal chromatin distribution

There is a progressive loss of cell maturation, and proliferation of these undifferentiated cells results in increased metabolic activity.

Several biological molecules such as nucleic acids, proteins and lipids have distinctive Raman features that yield (fornacem) structural and environmental information. Hence (concequentemente) , the molecular and cellular changes that occur with cancer may result in distinct Raman spectra from normal and cancerous tissues. The transitional changes in precancerous tissues as well as in benign abnormalities could also yield characteristic Raman features that allow their differentiation. For example, one of the more prominent changes that occur with cancer and precancer is increased cellular nucleic acid content.