A study of the effect of JB particles on Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) cells by Raman spectroscopy

Abstract

The mechanism of interaction of particulate matter with living system is not completely understood. Evaluation of the effect of particulate Indian traditional medicine JB(JB) on Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) cells is the major focus of the present study. In India, JB is considered as a rejuvenating medicine and used for the treatment of diseases such as diabetes and age-related eye diseases, as well as a health promoting tonic by the traditional practitioners. In presence of JB, higher growth has been observed at the late stationary growth phase of yeast. Ultra-structure analysis using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has shown that JB-treated yeast cells have better morphology over control in the late stationary growth phase. In this investigation, cellular response from yeast cells after interaction with JB particles was measured using Raman spectroscopy. Raman spectroscopy -a noninvasive tool to distinguish between particle-treated and untreated cells - revealed that treatment with JB is able to slow the degradation of cellular components (e.g. DNA, proteins and lipids) with the aging of yeast cells. Copyright (C) 2008 , Ltd.