Raman Spectroscopy for Chemical Biology Research

In chemical biology research, various fluorescent probes have been developed and used to visualize target proteins or molecules in living cells and tissues, yet there are limitations to this technology, such as the limited number of colors that can be detected simultaneously. Recently, Raman spectroscopy has been applied in chemical biology to overcome such limitations. Raman spectroscopy detects the molecular vibrations reflecting the structures and chemical conditions of molecules in a sample and was originally used to directly visualize the chemical responses of endogenous molecules. However, our initial research to develop "Raman tags" opens a new avenue for the application of Raman spectroscopy in chemical biology. In this Perspective, we first introduce the label-free Raman imaging of biomolecules, illustrating the biological applications of Raman spectroscopy. Next, we highlight the application of Raman imaging of small molecules using Raman tags for chemical biology research. Finally, we discuss the development and potential of Raman probes, which represent the next-generation probes in chemical biology.