Multiplex coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering microspectroscopy detection of lipid droplets in cancer cells expressing TrkB

For many years, scientists have been looking for specific biomarkers associated with cancer cells for diagnosis purposes. These biomarkers mainly consist of proteins located at the cell surface (e.g. the TrkB receptor) whose activation is associated with specific metabolic modifications. Identification of these metabolic changes usually requires cell fixation and specific dye staining. MCARS microspectroscopy is a label-free, non-toxic, and minimally invasive method allowing to perform analyses of live cells and tissues. We used this method to follow the formation of lipid droplets in three colorectal cancer cell lines expressing TrkB. MCARS images of cells generated from signal integration of CH(2) stretching modes allow to discriminate between lipid accumulation in the endoplasmic reticulum and the formation of cytoplasmic lipid droplets. We found that the number of the latter was related to the TrkB expression level. This result was confirmed thanks to the creation of a HEK cell line which over-expresses TrkB. We demonstrated that BDNF-induced TrkB activation leads to the formation of cytoplasmic lipid droplets, which can be abolished by K252a, an inhibitor of TrkB. So, MCARS microspectroscopy proved useful in characterizing cancer cells displaying an aberrant lipid metabolism.