Fig. 2: Live-cell SRS imaging and transcriptomics analysis reveal a differentiated-cell-specific susceptibility.

a Representative live-cell SRS images targeted on the CH₂ (top, 2845 cm⁻¹) and CH₃ (middle, 2940 cm⁻¹) channels and the corresponding CH₂ to CH₃ ratio (bottom, CH₂/CH₃) images. b Average live single-cell CH₂/CH₃ values from the SRS ratio images for each cell line (n = 30 cells per cell line examined over five independent experiments). Data are plotted as boxplots: center line indicates median; box limits indicate upper and lower quartiles; whiskers indicate minimum and maximum. c Heatmap of genes with strong correlations or anticorrelations to the CH₂/CH₃ trends shown in b. Representative genes involved in fatty acid metabolism (orange, positive correlation) and mesenchymal signature (purple, negative correlation) are indicated. d Two representative top biological functional processes from Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) with GSEA scores that exhibit positive (top panel) or negative (bottom panel) correlations with the phenotype-dependent CH₂/CH₃ trends across different cell lines. e Illustration of the pathway for deuterium transfer from deuterated glucose (d₇-glucose) to de novo synthesized fatty acids through the major lipid biosynthetic pathways. f SRS imaging at the C-D channel (2150 cm⁻¹) for newly synthesized fatty acids in all 5 selected cell lines cultured with d₇-glucose medium for 3 days. Labeling and imaging scheme shown on top. g Single-cell quantification of relative C-D signals in d₇-glucose labeled cells (n = 15 cells examined over three independent experiments, the C-D signals of M381 cells are normalized to one). h Relative viability of melanoma cells after treatment of FASN inhibitor cerulenin (10 μM, 3 days, n = 4 independent experiments). Scale bars, 20 μm. Data shown as mean ± SEM. Source data are provided as a Source data file.