Professor Ji-Xin Cheng has received official notification that his proposal entitled "Three-color Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering Microscopy for Imaging Specific Molecules without Fluoresphore Labeling" has been selected for funding by the Charles E. Culpepper Foundation's Biomedical Pilot Grant program. The specific aim of the proposed research is to develop high-sensitivity CARS microscopy for vibrational imaging without staining. Development of the proposed imaging method, although risky, will bring breakthroughs to different research areas if successful. It will help researchers to understand the biological functions of various molecules that cannot tolerate fluorophore labeling.

Professor Cheng's team will study polyethylene glycol (PEG) repair of nerve cell membranes. PEG is known to fuse holes in cell membranes but its organization is largely unknown. By using the resonant CARS signal from the C-D vibration in a deuterated PEG molecule, they will determine the distribution and structure of PEG inside the membrane. This experiment promises to reveal the working mechanisms of PEG in the membrane repair process.