Random Lasing Detection of Mutant Huntingtin Expression in Cells

• Main Authors: Sergio de Armas-Rillo, Felipe Fumagallo-Reading, Diego Luis-Ravelo, Beatriz Abdul-Jalbar, Tomás González-Hernández, Fernando Lahoz
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-05-01
• Series: Sensors
• Subjects: random lasing; Huntington’s disease; PCA; LDA; optical sensor; optical diagnostics
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/11/3825

Huntington’s disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant, incurable neurodegenerative disease caused by mutation in the huntingtin gene (<i>HTT</i>). <i>HTT</i> mutation leads to protein misfolding and aggregation, which affect cells’ functions and structural features. Because these changes might modify the scattering strength of affected cells, we propose that random lasing (RL) is an appropriate technique for detecting cells that express mutated <i>HTT</i>. To explore this hypothesis, we used a cell model of HD based on the expression of two different forms—pathogenic and non-pathogenic—of <i>HTT</i>. The RL signals from both cell profiles were compared. A multivariate statistical analysis of the RL signals based on the principal component analysis (PCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) techniques revealed substantial differences between cells that expressed the pathogenic and the non-pathogenic forms of <i>HTT</i>.