Raman Cell Sorting for Single-Cell Research

Cells constitute the fundamental units of living organisms. Investigating individual differences at the single-cell level facilitates an understanding of cell differentiation, development, gene expression, and cellular characteristics, unveiling the underlying laws governing life activities in depth. In recent years, the integration of single-cell manipulation and recognition technologies into detection and sorting systems has emerged as a powerful tool for advancing single-cell research. Raman cell sorting technology has garnered attention owing to its non-labeling, non-destructive detection features and the capability to analyze samples containing water. In addition, this technology can provide live cells for subsequent genomics analysis and gene sequencing. This paper emphasizes the importance of single-cell research, describes the single-cell research methods that currently exist, including single-cell manipulation and single-cell identification techniques, and highlights the advantages of Raman spectroscopy in the field of single-cell analysis by comparing it with the fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) technique. It describes various existing Raman cell sorting techniques and introduces their respective advantages and disadvantages. The above techniques were compared and analyzed, considering a variety of factors. The current bottlenecks include weak single-cell spontaneous Raman signals and the requirement for a prolonged total cell exposure time, significantly constraining Raman cell sorting technology’s detection speed, efficiency, and throughput. This paper provides an overview of current methods for enhancing weak spontaneous Raman signals and their associated advantages and disadvantages. Finally, the paper outlines the detailed information related to the Raman cell sorting technology mentioned in this paper and discusses the development trends and direction of Raman cell sorting.