Individual cell’s energy metabolism caught on camera for the first time

Amazing stuff!

"The new technology combines fluorescence resonance energy transfer (Fret) between two light-sensitive molecules with machine learning ...
Glucose is a vital energy source for almost all cell types, but the process of glycolysis in cancer often goes wrong. This can contribute to the diseased state of a malignant cell, supporting its ability to move, grow and divide. By pairing Fret technology with a new machine learning algorithm, [researchers] team were able to obtain images of glycolysis at a previously unachievable resolution, showing exactly which parts of the cell were using glucose in real time. ..."

"Single-cell motility is spatially heterogeneous and driven by metabolic energy. Directly linking cell motility to cell metabolism is technically challenging but biologically important. Here, we use single-cell metabolic imaging to measure glycolysis in individual endothelial cells with genetically encoded biosensors capable of deciphering metabolic heterogeneity at subcellular resolution. ..."

Individual cell’s energy metabolism caught on camera for the first time | Research | Chemistry World High-resolution images of human metabolism have been caught on camera for the first time thanks to a new technique that can track glucose metabolism in a single cell. Tracking glucose could provide insights and even new therapies to treat cancer – a disease which often disrupts cellular metabolism.

Single-cell metabolic imaging reveals a SLC2A3-dependent glycolytic burst in motile endothelial cells (no public access)