Cellular vitality of PC12 cells revealed through auto-fluorescence induced by two-photon excitation

The combination of fluorescence spectroscopy and optical trapping under an integrated laser scanning microscopy platform has presented to be a powerful tool in manipulating and positioning the cells as well as standardizing the conditions of measurements. This platform was applied to investigate the autofluorescence of PC12 cells. Under 2-p excitation, the PC12 cells exhibit fluorescence in the range of 500-530 nm. It was shown that intensity of 2-p autofluorescence from PC12 cells is very sensitive to the cells' condition. Therefore autofluorescence from the cells may be a convenient and noninvasive method for monitoring the cell's or another biological object's condition, metabolism, and/or vitality under various physical and chemical influences.