Nanoscale hydroxyl radical generation from multiphoton ionization of tryptophan

Bisby, RH; Crisostomo, AG; Botchway, SW; Parker, AW

Abstract

Exposure of solutions containing both tryptophan and hydrogen peroxide to a pulsed (~180 fs) laser beam at 750 nm induces luminescence characteristic of 5 hydroxytryptophan. The results indicate that 3-photon excitation of tryptophan results in photoionization within the focal volume of the laser beam. The resulting hydrated electron is scavenged by the hydrogen peroxide to produce the hydroxyl radical. The latter subsequently reacts with tryptophan to form 5-hydroxytryptophan. The involvement of hydroxyl radicals is confirmed by use of ethanol and nitrous oxide as scavengers and their effects on the fluorescence yield in this system. It is postulated that such multiphoton ionization of tryptophanyl residues in cellular proteins may contribute to the photodamage observed during imaging of cells and tissues using multiphoton microscopy.

Citation

Bisby, R., Crisostomo, A., Botchway, S., & Parker, A. Nanoscale hydroxyl radical generation from multiphoton ionization of tryptophan. Photochemistry and Photobiology, 85(1), 353-357. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-1097.2008.00447.x

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Deposit Date: Feb 16, 2009
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 16, 2009
• Journal: Photochemistry and Photobiology
• Print ISSN: 0031-8655
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 85
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 353-357
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-1097.2008.00447.x
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-1097.2008.00447.x
• Related Public URLs: http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/index.html