Single Cell Imaging of Metabolism with Fluorescent Biosensors

Cells utilize various signal transduction networks to regulate metabolism. Nevertheless, a quantitative understanding of the relationship between growth factor signaling and metabolic state at the single cell level has been lacking. The signal transduction and metabolic states could vary widely among individual cells. However, such cell-to-cell variation might be masked by the bulk measurements obtained from conventional biochemical methods. To assess the spatiotemporal dynamics of metabolism in individual intact cells, we developed genetically encoded biosensors based on fluorescent proteins.