FLUORESCENCE LIFETIMES OF OCULAR LENS CHROMOPHORES |
| |
| Authors: | R F Borkman J D Tassin S Lerman † |
| |
| Institution: | *School of Chemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, U.S.A.;†Department of Ophthalmology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, U.S.A. |
| |
| Abstract: | Abstract— Fluorescence lifetimes are reported for intact human lenses in vitro. Two spectral regions were investigated: The first was excited at 296nm and detected at 332 or 370nm and corresponds to emission from tryptophan residues in the lens proteins. The second spectral region was excited at 359 nm and detected at 435 nm and corresponds to non-tryptophan 'fluorogen' fluorescence. The latter displayed a constant lifetime, 3.8 ns, independent of the anatomical part of the lens excited. This value was compared with measured lifetimes for some model fluorogens. The tryptophan fluorescence lifetime (332 nm detection) was found to vary from 1.8 to 2.8 ns depending on the anatomical part of the lens excited. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
|
|
