%0 Journal Article
%T Identification of Contaminated Cells with Viruses, Bacteria, or Fungi by Fourier Transform Infrared Microspectroscopy
%A V. Erukhimovitch
%A M. Huleihil
%A M. Huleihel
%J Journal of Spectroscopy
%D 2013
%R 10.1155/2013/317458
%X Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy (FTIR-M) can detect small molecular changes in cells and therefore was previously applied for the identification of different biological samples. In the present study, FTIR spectroscopy was used for the identification and discrimination of Vero cells infected with herpes viruses or contaminated with bacteria or fungi in cell culture. Vero cells in culture were infected herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) or contaminated with E. coli bacteria or Candida albicans fungi and analyzed by FTIR microscopy at 24£¿h postinfection/contamination. Specific different spectral changes were observed according to the infecting or contaminating agent. For instance, both pure fungi and cell culture contaminated with this fungi showed specific peaks at 1030£¿cm£¿1 and at 1373£¿cm£¿1 regions, while pure E. coli and cell culture contaminated with this bacteria showed a specific and unique peak at 1657£¿cm£¿1. These results support the potential of developing FTIR microspectroscopy as a simple, reagent free method for identification and discrimination between different tissue infection or contamination with various pathogens. 1. Introduction Serious human diseases are caused by different pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, or fungi. In many cases, it is difficult to distinguish between these various infections by routine physician inspection, particularly at early stages of the infection. There are several routine assays for detection of the responsible pathogens of such infections:(1)growing of the pathogen in culture and trying to identify it by microscopic observations. This assay is not always simple because each pathogen needs different growth conditions and takes relatively long time till getting the results depending on the pathogen (days to weeks). In addition, this assay is highly dependent on the physician qualification [1];(2)immune assays using specific antibodies [2]; (3)molecular assays using specific primers. Although these immune and molecular assays are highly specific, they are relatively expensive and not always available for all pathogens. Furthermore, in order to identify the cause of unclear infection, it might be necessary to examine the sample simultaneously by various assays because the conditions and techniques required for examining various pathogens are completely different. The detection and identification of pathogen infections by spectroscopic techniques is highly promising due to their sensitivity, rapidity, low expenses, and simplicity. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) microscopy is considered as a
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jspec/2013/317458/