Autofluorescence spectroscopy and imaging: a tool for biomedical research and diagnosis

Native fluorescence, or autofluorescence (AF), consists in the emission of light in the UV-visible, near-IR spectral range when biological substrates are excited with light at suitable wavelength. This is a well-known phenomenon, and the strict relationship of many endogenous fluorophores with morph...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of histochemistry 2014-12, Vol.58 (4), p.2461-2461
Main Authors: Croce, A C, Bottiroli, G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biomedical Research - instrumentation
Biomedical Research - methods
Endogenous-fluorophores
energetic-metabolism
functionality-monitoring
Humans
Optical Imaging - instrumentation
Optical Imaging - methods
Review
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Description
Summary:Native fluorescence, or autofluorescence (AF), consists in the emission of light in the UV-visible, near-IR spectral range when biological substrates are excited with light at suitable wavelength. This is a well-known phenomenon, and the strict relationship of many endogenous fluorophores with morphofunctional properties of the living systems, influencing their AF emission features, offers an extremely powerful resource for directly monitoring the biological substrate condition. Starting from the last century, the technological progresses in microscopy and spectrofluorometry were convoying attention of the scientific community to this phenomenon. In the future, the interest in the autofluorescence will certainly continue. Current instrumentation and analytical procedures will likely be overcome by the unceasing progress in new devices for AF detection and data interpretation, while a progress is expected in the search and characterization of endogenous fluorophores and their roles as intrinsic biomarkers.
ISSN:1121-760X
2038-8306
DOI:10.4081/ejh.2014.2461