Nanoscale mapping of newly-synthesised phospholipid molecules in a biological cell using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

Nanoscale chemical mapping of newly-synthesised phospholipid molecules inside a mammalian cell is demonstrated using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) for the first time using mouse pre-adipocyte cells as a model system. Newly-synthesised membrane phospholipid distribution within a pre-adipocyte cell is mapped with <20 nm spatial resolution, overcoming the diffraction limit of confocal Raman spectroscopy via plasmonic enhancement of Raman signals at a TERS tip-apex.