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Raman imaging of hemozoin within the food vacuole of Plasmodium falciparum trophozoites
Author(s) -
Wood Bayden R,
Langford Steven J,
Cooke Brian M,
Glenister Fiona K,
Lim Janelle,
McNaughton Don
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/s0014-5793(03)00975-x
Subject(s) - hemozoin , porphyrin , raman spectroscopy , vacuole , plasmodium falciparum , chemistry , heme , biophysics , photochemistry , fluorescence , biochemistry , optics , biology , malaria , pathology , medicine , physics , cytoplasm , enzyme
Micro‐Raman spectra of hemozoin encapsulated within the food vacuole of a Plasmodium falciparum ‐infected erythrocyte are presented. The spectrum of hemozoin is identical to the spectrum of β‐hematin at all applied excitation wavelengths. The unexpected observation of dramatic band enhancement of A 1g modes including ν 4 (1374 cm −1 ) observed when applying 780 nm excitation enabled Raman imaging of hemozoin in the food vacuole. This unusual enhancement, resulting from excitonic coupling between linked porphyrin moieties in the extended porphyrin array, enables the investigation of hemozoin within its natural environment for the first time.