Two photon-induced fluorescence intensity and anisotropy decays of diphenylhexatriene in solvents and lipid bilayers

We measured the fluorescence intensity and anisotropy decays of 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH)-labeled membranes resulting from simultaneous two-photon excitation of fluorescence. Comparison of these two-photon data with the more usual one-photon measurements revealed that DPH displayed identical intensity decays, anisotropy decays, and order parameters for one- and two-photon excitation. While the anisotropy data are numerically distinct, they can be compared by use of the factor 10/7, which accounts for the two-photon versus one-photon photoselection. The increased time 0 anisotropy of DPH can result in increased resolution of complex anisotropy decays. Global analysis of the one- and two-photon data reveals consistency with a single apparent angle between the absorption and the emission oscillators. The global anisotropy analysis also suggests that, except for the photoselection factor, the anisotropy decays are the same for one-and two-photon excitation. This ideal behavior of DPH as a two-photon absorber, and its high two-photon cross section, makes DPH a potential probe for confocal two-photon microscopy and other systems where it is advantageous to use long-wavelength (680- to 760-nm) excitation.     

Review of fluorescence anisotropy decay analysis by frequency-domain fluorescence spectroscopy

This didactic paper summarizes the mathematical expressions needed for analysis of fluorescence anisotropy decays from polarized frequency-domain fluorescence data. The observed values are the phase angle difference between the polarized components of the emission and the modulated anisotropy, which is the ratio of the polarized and amplitude-modulated components of the emission. This procedure requires a separate measurement of the intensity decay of the total emission. The expressions are suitable for any number of exponential components in both the intensity decay and the anisotropy decay. The formalism is generalized for global analysis of anisotropy decays measured at different excitation wavelengths and for different intensity decay times as the result of quenching. Additionally, we describe the expressions required for associated anisotropy decays, that is, anisotropy decays where each correlation time is associated with a decay time present in the anisotropy decay. And finally, we present expressions appropriate for distributions of correlation times. This article should serve as a reference for researchers using frequency-domain fluorometry.     

新型多光子成像技术研究进展

相比于传统的光学成像技术,近年来获得快速发展的新型多光子成像技术具有穿透深度大,组织光损伤小,信噪比高,且可方便进行光学层析成像的特点,故而被广泛应用于包括脑、肿瘤、胚胎在内的多种活体组织成像中。本综述回顾了新型多光子成像技术的诞生与发展历程,包括微型化双光子成像技术、双光子内窥技术和三光子成像技术,概括分析了其基本原理与成像特点,讨论了这一领域具有代表性的最新研究成果,重点总结了其在生物学基础研究领域和临床医学诊断中的主要应用,并展望了其未来的应用与发展前景。可以预见,随着激光器和光探测技术的不断进步,多光子成像技术将会得到更大的发展与更加广泛的应用。     

Fluorescence evidence for cholesterol regular distribution in phosphatidylcholine and in sphingomyelin lipid bilayers

Our previous studies indicated that sterols (including cholesterol and dehydroergosterol) can be regularly distributed into hexagonal superlattices in the plane of liquid-crystalline phosphatidylcholine bilayers. It was suggested that regular and irregular regions coexist in the membrane. In the present study, we report supporting evidence for our sterol regular distribution model. We have examined the fractional concentration dependencies of dehydroergosterol (a naturally occurring cholesterol analogue) fluorescence intensity and lifetime in various phosphatidylcholine and sphingomyelin bilayers. Fluorescence intensity and lifetime dips have been observed at specific sterol mole fractions. At those mole fractions, the acrylamide quenching rate constant of dehydroergosterol fluorescence reaches a local maximum. Those mole fractions match the critical sterol mole fractions at which sterol molecules are expected to be regularly distributed into hexagonal superlattices. The results support the idea that the sterols in the regular region are embedded in the bilayer less deep than those in the irregular regions. We have also examined the fractional cholesterol concentration dependencies of diphenylhexatriene (DPH) fluorescence intensity, lifetime, and polarization in DMPC vesicles. DPH fluorescence intensity and polarization also exhibit distinct dips and peaks, respectively, at critical sterol mole fractions for hexagonal superlattices. However, DPH lifetime changes little with sterol mole fraction. As a comparison, the fluorescence properties of DHE and DPH behave differently in response to the formation of sterol regular distribution. Furthermore, finding evidence for sterol regular distribution in both phosphatidylcholine and sphingomyelin membranes raises the possibility that sterol regular distribution may occur within phospholipid/cholesterol enriched domains of real biological membranes.     

On the interpretation of fluorescence anisotropy decays from probe molecules in lipid vesicle systems

Measurements of fluorescence depolarization decays are widely used to obtain information about the molecular order and rotational dynamics of fluorescent probe molecules in membrane systems. This information is obtained by least-squares fits of the experimental data to the predictions of physical models for motion. Here we present a critical review of the ways and means of the data analysis and address the question how and why totally different models such as Brownian rotational diffusion and wobble-in-cone provide such convincing fits to the fluorescence anistropy decay curves. We show that while these models are useful for investigating the general trends in the behavior of the probe molecules, they fail to describe the underlying motional processes. We propose to remedy this situation with a model in which the probe molecules undergo fast, though restricted local motions within a slowly rotating cage in the lipid bilayer structure. The cage may be envisaged as a free volume cavity between the lipid molecules, so that its position and orientation change with the internal conformational motions of the lipid chains. This approach may be considered to be a synthesis of the wobble-in-cone and Brownian rotational diffusion models. Importantly, this compound motion model appears to provide a consistent picture of fluorescent probe behavior in both oriented lipid bilayers and lipid vesicle systems.     

Conformational differences of oxytocin and vasopressin as observed by fluorescence anisotropy decays and transient effects in collisional quenching of tyrosine fluorescence

We used gigahertz frequency-domain fluorometry to examine the tyrosyl fluorescence intensity and anisotropy decays of the single-tyrosine cyclic peptide hormones oxytocin and vasopressin. Acrylamide quenching and a distance-dependent quenching model for collisional quenching were used to evaluate the extent of tyrosyl exposure to the quencher and to provide increased resolution of the picosecond anisotropy decays. Analysis of the intensity decays using a lifetime distribution model shows different distributions for oxytocin and vasopressin. We found that the tyrosyl fluorescence of lysine-vasopressin, as revealed both by the lifetime Stern-Volmer plots and from the quenching analysis, is quenched more effectively than oxytocin. ForN-acetyltyrosinamide (NATyrA), oxytocin, and lysine-vasopressin, we recovered apparent diffusion coefficients for quenching of 4.7×10^–6, 0.44×10^–6, and 4.3×10^–6 cm²/s, respectively, the lower value for oxytocin suggesting a shielded environment for its tyrosyl residue. Tyrosyl anisotropy decays were recovered by global analysis of progressively quenched samples. Compared with oxytocin, vasopressin displayed a longer correlation time for overall rotational diffusion and a higher amplitude for picosecond segmented motions of its tyrosyl residue. All the data are consistent with a more extended and flexible solution structure for vasopressin than for oxytocin.Dedicated to Professor Alfons Kawski on the occasion of his 65th birthday.     

Fluorescence of horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase using one- and two-photon excitation

We examined the steady-state and time-resolved emission of liver alcohol dehydrogenase resulting from one-photon and two-photon excitation. Previous studies with one-photon excitation revealed that the two nonidentical tryptophan residues display different emission spectra and decay times. The use of two-photon excitation resulted in similar emission spectra, multiexponential intensity decays, time-resolved emission spectra, and anisotropy decays as was observed for one-photon excitation. These results suggest that both nonidentical tryptophan residues are excited to a similar extent for one- and two-photon excitation. However, the limiting anisotropy (r ₀) with two-photon excitation from 585 to 610 nm is below 0.1 and appears distinct from that observed previously forN-acetyl-l-tryptophanamide.Abbreviations LADH liver alcohol dehydrogenase - -NAD⁺ -nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide - OPE one-photon excitation - OPIF one-photon induced fluorescence - TPE two-photon excitation - TCSPC time-correlated single photon counting - TPIF two-photon induced fluorescence     

Determination of DPH order parameters in unoriented vesicles

This article reviews the determination of orientational order parameters in non-macroscopically oriented membranes from the data obtained with the fluorescent probe all-trans-1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH). Special attention is paid to the effect of microheterogeneity in the probe environment on the recovered values of the order parameters. An effort is made to accommodate new findings in the existing picture of orientational order in membranes.     

基于双光子激发荧光的单分子探测技术研究

介绍采用双光子激发荧光方法进行单分子探测的原理和自行研制的实验装置,激发光聚焦和荧光收集采用共焦方式。选择香豆素C445水溶液作为研究对象,从样品流速、浓度、激光功率、信噪比和检测限等方面探讨了双光子激发荧光的特性。该谱仪目前己达到探测灵敏区内C445的平均分子数为1.5个的检测限     

Characterization of nanometric carbon materials by time-resolved fluorescence polarization anisotropy

In this work, time-resolved fluorescence polarization anisotropy (TRFPA) technique has been applied to the determination of the average size of asphaltenes and combustion-generated carbon nanoparticles. The characteristic depolarization time of fluorescence light following photon absorption is related to the typical particle size through the Stoke–Einstein rotational diffusion equation. The TRFPA technique employed in our experiment achieves sub-nanosecond time resolution, roughly corresponding to sub-nanometer accuracy in determining the particle size. The technique has been applied to both asphaltene and carbon nanoparticles, the former being a component of petroleum, whereas the latter result from combustion processes. Therefore, a complete and reliable characterization of such particles is of great importance in oil industry and atmospheric physics, respectively. Although the TRFPA technique has been developed and widely used on molecular and biological samples, it proves to be a very powerful tool for measuring the size of asphaltene and soot particles as small as few nanometers with a resolution of the order of 0.1 nm.     

Fluorescence Studies on Potential Antitumoral Heteroaryl and Heteroannulated Indoles in Solution and in Lipid Membranes

Fluorescence properties of three potential antitumoral compounds, a 3-(dibenzothien-4-yl)indole 1, a phenylbenzothienoindole 2 and a 3-(dibenzofur-4-yl)indole 3, were studied in solution and in lipid aggregates of dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (DPPC), dioleoyl phosphatidylethanolamine (DOPE) and egg yolk phosphatidylcholine (Egg-PC). The 3-(dibenzofur-4-yl)indole 3 exhibits the higher fluorescence quantum yields in all solvents studied (0.32 ≤ Φ_F ≤ 0.51). All the compounds present a solvent sensitive emission, with significant red shifts in alcohols. The results point to an ICT character of the excited state, more pronounced for compound 1. Fluorescence (steady-state) anisotropy measurements of the compounds incorporated in lipid aggregates of DPPC, DOPE and Egg-PC indicate that the three compounds are deeply located in the lipid bilayer, feeling the difference between the rigid gel phase and fluid phases.     

Light quenching of tetraphenylbutadiene fluorescence observed during two-photon excitation

We observed the steady-state and time-resolved emission of tetraphenylbutadiene (TPB) whea excited by simultaneous absorption of two photons (514 to 610 nm). The intensity initially increased quadratically with laser power, as expected for a two-photon process. At higher laser powers the intensity increases in TPB were subquadratic. The intensity and anisotropy decay times of TPB were unchanged under the locally intense illumination. Importantly, the time zero anisotropy of TPB was decreased under conditions where the intensity was subquadratic. Furthermore, the subquadratic dependence on incident power was not observed for two-photon excitation of 2,5-diphenyloxazole (PPO), for which the incident wavelength does not overlap with the emission spectrum. These results are consistent with stimulated emission (light quenching) of TPB at high laser intensities. The phenomenon of light quenching may be important for other fluorophores used in biochemical research, particularly for the high local intensities used for two-photon excitation.     

Specific molecular properties of organic solvents determine the fluorescence depolarization of DPH and TMA-DPH in membranes

In pig liver microsomes and protein-free egg PC liposomes the effects of organic solvent molecules on the fluorescence depolarization of 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH) and 1-[4-(trimethylamino)phenyl]-6-phenyl-hexa-3,5-triene (TMA-DPH) were investigated. Aromaticity, alkyl chain length, and stereometry of the solvent molecules are shown to determine the changes of fluorescence depolarization. A concentration-dependent decrease in the fluorescence anisotropy is obtained with aromatic molecules but not with aliphatic molecules. The decrease correlates with the increasing side chain length of alkylbenzenes for both fluorophors and both membrane systems. Benzene in microsomes deviates characteristically from this trend. Measurements of TMA-DPH reveal smaller changes of anisotropy but yield the same qualitative results. Moreover, it is possible to distinguish the effects of the different stereometric properties of the three xylene isomers on the fluorescence anisotropy of DPH. According to their alkyl chain length and their specific stereometry, they exert the strongest fluidizing effect of all solvents investigated.     

A review on the methods for correcting the fluorescence inner-filter effect of fluorescence spectrum

Fluorescence spectroscopy is frequently used to analyze the concentration of fluorescent materials in solution. However, in conventional fluorescence spectroscopy, the response between the fluorescence intensity and fluorophore concentration is nonlinear at high concentrations due to uncompensated inner-filter effects (IFE). Many methods to resolve this problem have been developed in recent decades. This review introduces the methods used to correct the IFE, including direct correction and parameter correction. Relevant detection parameters, including the materials, matrices, detection limits, detection instruments and relative standard deviations, are tabulated. The advantages and limitations of these correction techniques are also discussed. Finally, the methods used to correct for the IFE are summarized, and future research directions are discussed.     

Effect of excitation intensity on fluorescence spectra in ZnO nanostructures and its origin

ZnO nanostructures with three kinds of morphologies, namely, tetrapod-, rod-, and sheet-like shape, are synthesized by chemical vapor deposition, conventional solution-phase, and hydrothermal methods, respectively. The fluorescence measurements display that the spectra of these nanostructures exhibit similar unexpected change laws with the altering excitation intensity. It is observed that when the excitation intensity increases, for the green emission band, the peak position shows a small blue-shift, the width turns broader, and the intensity grows first stronger and then weaker; for the UV emission band, the peak position exhibits a significant red-shift, and the width and intensity have the similar behaviors with those of the green band. Additionally, the relative intensity of green emission to UV emission decreases gradually. It is clarified that the origin of this abnormal phenomenon is ascribed to the local laser heating effect and the high sensitivity of nanostructures to this heating effect. Supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2005CB623603)     

Solvent effect on the steady-state fluorescence anisotropy of two-photon absorbing fluorene derivatives

The effect of solvent polarity on the fluorescence properties of several two-photon absorbing fluorene derivatives was investigated. A strong solvatochromic effect was observed for symmetrical fluorene compound, which can be explained by large changes in the quadrupolar moment under excitation. Limiting values of excitation anisotropy of the investigated fluorenes exhibited a dependence on solvent polarity, and the angles between the absorption and emission transition dipole moments decrease in polar solvents by more than a factor of two.     

Dual fluorescence and laser emissions from fluorescein-Na and eosin-B

Dual laser emissions were observed from fluorescein-Na and eosin-B in ethanolic solutions individually in the concentration range from 10⁻² to 10⁻³ mol dm⁻³ under N₂ laser excitation. The first compound was found to lase at two distinct regions with wavelength maxima around 540, 550 nm, while the second one around 558, 574 nm. Steady-state absorption, fluorescence excitation, fluorescence polarization, fluorescence emission and decays of the dyes in various solvents under varying conditions of excitation and detection systems were carried out to identify the nature of the emitting species responsible for laser emissions in two distinct regions. Both the dyes exhibited concentration and excitation wavelength dependence of fluorescence and the effects were found to be more pronounced in binary solution. The fluorescence decays of dyes were monoexponential in ethanol, while in some other solvents used, the decays showed biexponential behavior. The absorption and excitation studies using thin layers of solutions revealed the formation of dimers with the dye concentration around 1×10⁻³ mol dm⁻³. Fluorescence polarization and decay studies confirmed the presence of dimers. The two laser bands observed in the shorter and longer wavelengths were respectively ascribed to monomeric and dimeric species.     

Investigation of the Dynamic Properties of the Lipid Layer of Intraplastid Membranes by Lipophilic Fluorescent Probes

The dynamic properties of the lipid layer of intraplastid membranes have been studied by analyzing the stationary and kinetic spectral polarization characteristics of the fluorescence of lipophilic probes of pyrene and diphenylhexatriene (DPH). Based on the data of the decay of the fluorescence anisotropy of pyrene, the value of the microviscosity of lipids in the membranes of prolamellar bodies (PLB) and protilakoids of etioplasts has been calculated. The pyrene molecules built into the membranes of etioplasts have a relatively high rotational mobility (stationary anisotropy r _s < 0.1). The DPH molecules rotate with difficulty in etioplast membranes (r _s > 0.3). After photoreduction of protochlorophyllide (Pd) in vivo, the rotation of the pyrene and DPH molecules in the membranes of prolamellar bodies becomes easier and this leads to a decrease in r _s. Illumination raised the degree of excimerization of the pyrene immersed into lipids (_exc = 337 nm), and the microsurrounding of the molecules of the probe in lipids became more hydropholic (the relationship between the vibronic maxima at 373 and 387 nm decrease). The set of data obtained points to a decrease in the microviscosity of the lipid layer of the membranes of prolamellar bodies as a result of illumination of sproutings.     

Anomalous fluorescence properties of 4-N,N-dimethylaminobenzoic acid in polar solvents

4-N,N-Dimethylaminobenzoic acid exhibits anomalous fluorescence in polar and hydrogen-bonding solvents. The fluorescence spectra and kinetics suggest that this arises due to the formation of a ground-state dimer or higher polymer. Preliminary measurements in hexane containing small amounts of polar acetonitrile do not rule out the possibility of exciplex formation also occurring.     

Effect of temperature on the fluorescence emission of 2H-chromen-2-one derivative in non-polar and polar solvents

The effect of temperature (293-333 K) on the fluorescence emission of 4-(5-methyl-3-phenyl-benzofuran-2-yl)-6-chloro-2H-chromen-2-one (MPBClC) is recorded in non-polar (1,4-dioxane, and toluene), and polar (butanol and DMSO) solvents. It is found that there is no shift in the position of fluorescence maxima, but the intensity decreases with increase in temperature, which depends on the polarity of the solvent. A mechanism of fluorescence quenching with rise in temperature is discussed in terms of the relative location of lowest ¹(ππ^?) and ³(nπ^?) states, and the energy difference between them. The change in temperature brings about a change in the probabilities of radiative and non-radiative transition. The radiationless deactivation of excited-state in the absence of quencher is temperature-dependent and its thermal activation energy has been determined.