Mentor: Paul Urayama, Ph.D.

Spectral phasor analysis and steady state and lifetime decay of spectral deconvolution, two different mathematical approaches for analyzing autofluorescence detections in many biological pathways and anabolic processes within bacterial and mammalian cells. In cellular metabolism, metabolic coenzymes nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) allow for the detection of non-invasive autofluorescence. Likewise, in protein synthesis during translation, specific amino acids such as; phenylalanine, tryptophan, and tyrosine also contribute to non-invasive protein autofluorescence detections. Differentiating between naturally and non-occurring fluorescent detections provides insight into possible bound- and free- molecules to these enzymes and proteins. Since spectral phasor analysis is model-free, it can be used more efficiently to determine the spectral form of the fluorescence in a biological sample. Spectral deconvolution can also be used to determine overlapping fluorescence detection in multiple fluorescent enzymes, proteins, and other intrinsic fluorophores.

Explore the Project