Illuminating life processes by vibrational probes

Naixin Qian¹, Zhilun Zhao¹, Elsy El Khoury¹, Xin Gao¹, Carli Canela¹, Yihui Shen², Lingyan Shi³, Lixue Shi⁴, Fanghao Hu⁵, Lu Wei⁶, Wei Min^{7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
² Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
³ Shu Chien-Gene Lay Department of Bioengineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
⁴ Shanghai Xuhui Central Hospital, Zhongshan-Xuhui Hospital, and Shanghai Key Laboratory of Medical Epigenetics, International Co-laboratory of Medical Epigenetics and Metabolism, Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
⁵ Department of Chemistry, MOE Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Phosphorus Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
⁶ Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
⁷ Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. wm2256@columbia.edu.
⁸ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. wm2256@columbia.edu.

PMID: 40360917
DOI: 10.1038/s41592-025-02689-0

Review

Illuminating life processes by vibrational probes

Naixin Qian et al. Nat Methods. 2025 May.

. 2025 May;22(5):928-944.

doi: 10.1038/s41592-025-02689-0. Epub 2025 May 13.

Authors

Naixin Qian¹, Zhilun Zhao¹, Elsy El Khoury¹, Xin Gao¹, Carli Canela¹, Yihui Shen², Lingyan Shi³, Lixue Shi⁴, Fanghao Hu⁵, Lu Wei⁶, Wei Min^{7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
² Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
³ Shu Chien-Gene Lay Department of Bioengineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
⁴ Shanghai Xuhui Central Hospital, Zhongshan-Xuhui Hospital, and Shanghai Key Laboratory of Medical Epigenetics, International Co-laboratory of Medical Epigenetics and Metabolism, Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
⁵ Department of Chemistry, MOE Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Phosphorus Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
⁶ Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
⁷ Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. wm2256@columbia.edu.
⁸ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. wm2256@columbia.edu.

PMID: 40360917
DOI: 10.1038/s41592-025-02689-0

Abstract

Vibration of chemical bonds can serve as imaging contrast. Vibrational probes, synergized with major advances in chemical bond imaging instruments, have recently flourished and proven valuable in illuminating life processes. Here, we review how the development of vibrational probes with optimal biocompatibility, enhanced sensitivity, multichromatic colors and diverse functionality has extended chemical bond imaging beyond the prevalent label-free paradigm into various novel applications such as imaging metabolites, metabolic imaging, drug imaging, super-multiplex imaging, vibrational profiling and vibrational sensing. These advancements in vibrational probes have greatly facilitated understanding living systems, a new field of vibrational chemical biology.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

References

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Illuminating life processes by vibrational probes

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Illuminating life processes by vibrational probes

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