Infrared spectroscopy as a new tool for studying single living cells: Is there a niche?

FTIR spectroscopy is an analytical technique widely applied for studying the vibrational fingerprint of organic compounds. In recent years, it has been applied to many biomedical fields because of its potential to detect the composition and molecular structure of various biological materials without the need of probe molecules. The coupling of IR spectrometers with visible microscopes has led to perform the imaging analysis of non-homogeneous samples, such as tissues and cells, in which the biochemical and spatial information are close related. In this review, we report the most significant applications of FTIR to the study of cells in different conditions (fixed, dried and living) with the aim to monitor their biochemical modifications, either induced or naturally occurring.