Raman spectroscopy has long been known to provide sufficient
information
to discriminate distinct cell phenotypes. Underlying this discriminating
capability is that Raman spectra provide an overall readout of the
metabolic profiles that change with transcriptomic activity. Robustly
associating Raman spectral changes with the regulation of specific
signaling pathways may be possible, but the spectral signals of interest
may be weak and vary somewhat among individuals. Establishing a Raman-to-transcriptome
mapping will thus require tightly controlled and easily manipulated
biological systems and high-throughput spectral acquisition. We attempt
to meet these requirements using broadband coherent anti-Stokes Raman
scattering (BCARS) microscopy to spatio-spectrally map theC. eleganshermaphrodite gonadin vivoat subcellular resolution. TheC. eleganshermaphrodite gonad is an ideal model system with a sequential,
continuous process of highly regulated spatiotemporal cellular events.
We demonstrate that the BCARS spatio-spectral signatures correlate
with gene expression profiles in the gonad, evincing that BCARS has
potential as a spatially resolved omics surrogate.