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Movement of fluorescence pattern after photobleaching: an accelerated procedure for DNA electrophoretic mobility analysis.

A new approach which is compatible with many of the existing procedures for the analysis of DNA species in gel electrophoresis is being demonstrated. It takes advantage of fluorescence photobleaching in order to create a sharp boundary between the stained and the (partially) photobleached DNA. By arbitrarily creating a stained DNA band of narrower width, the sensitivity to detect (averaged) DNA band movements has been increased. This feature permits measurements of time-dependent electrophoretic mobility over very short time periods. The approach can be used to shorten the running time of gel electrophoresis experiment and to increase the resolution because of the sharper boundary and narrower band width. With faster running time, diffusion of both DNA and dye in the gel also becomes less serious. Movement of fluorescence pattern after photobleaching also permits measurements of localized motions when the gel pores are small in comparison with DNA sizes. Experiments demonstrating some aspects of the proposed technique, as well as the anticipated limitations, are presented and discussed.

Autoanalysis↗

Fringe pattern photobleaching, a new method for the measurement of transport coefficients of biological macromolecules.

The conventional method of studying mass transport in membranes by spot photobleaching and then following the recovery of fluorescence has disadvantages. Among them, the need for a high density of fluorescent molecules, the measurement of the beam profile, and a knowledge of the photobleaching processes are of a crucial importance. The application of a planar fringe pattern of light both for the bleaching and the monitoring of the fluorescent molecules solves these three major difficulties. Brownian diffusion coefficients and flow velocities can be measured independently and are averaged over the whole fringe pattern volume. These transport coefficients are explored over the wide range of experimentally accessible distances (from an interfringe spacing 0.5-50 micron). The quantification of the mobile and immobile components is further simplified by scanning the fringe pattern and detecting only a modulated fluorescence recovery signal. The fringe pattern photobleaching method is particularly adapted to the measurements of diffusion coefficients and flow velocity of membrane components, as well as of cytoplasmic proteins. The theoretical results and the test experiments with fluorescent bovine serum albumin are described.

Animals↗

Construction and performance of a photobleaching recovery apparatus with microsecond time resolution.

A fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) apparatus was constructed to measure sub-millisecond fluorescence recovery processes in living cells. The photobleaching pulse and probe beams were generated by modulating the intensity of a continuous wave Argon laser (4 W) by two acousto-optic modulators in series. The maximum intensity modulation was > 10(6):1 with a rise time of < 1 microsecond and a minimum pulse width of 6 microseconds. Fluorescence was detected by a photomultiplier, amplified by a transimpedance amplifier, and digitized at 1 MHz. During the photobleaching pulse, the photomultiplier gain was reduced by ca. 1500-fold by switching the second dynode voltage ca. 100 V negative with respect to the cathode voltage by computer control of two bidirectional Mosfet optoisolators. The switching circuit produced a optoisolators. The switching circuit produced a transient anode current (t approximately 15 microseconds) which was subtracted for measurement of recoveries of < 50-100 microseconds. The apparatus was coupled to an inverted microscope for measurement of fluorescence by epi-illumination or total internal reflection. Instrument performance was evaluated by measurement of the rapid fluorescence recoveries of fluorescein and fluorescein-dextrans in solutions and living cells.

Animals↗

Competition between photobleaching and fluorescence increase of photosensitizing porphyrins and tetrasulphonated chloroaluminiumphthalocyanine.

The time-dependent fluorescence changes of photosensitizing porphyrins and tetrasulphonated chloroaluminiumphthalocyanine (A1C1SPc) were measured at different intracellular sites using video-enhanced microscopy and image processing. To obtain variations in intracellular fluorescence intensity, different radiant exposures of a Kr+ laser-pumped dye laser were delivered via a 600 microns plastic-clad silica fibre connected to the microscope. During irradiation, competition between photobleaching and fluorescence increase of the different dyes was observed. The porphyrins normally showed photobleaching, which was dependent on the sensitizer and its specific accumulation within the cell. Photobleaching was less pronounced for hydrophilic uroporphyrin than for more hydrophobic dyes. In contrast with an almost exponential decrease in porphyrin fluorescence with increasing light dose, the fluorescence intensity of A1C1SPc significantly increased at the beginning of irradiation, and could be correlated with intracellular deaggregation.

Animals↗

Epitope mapping by photobleaching fluorescence resonance energy transfer measurements using a laser scanning microscope system.

The donor photobleaching method (T. M. Jovin and D. J. Arndt-Jovin. 1989. Annu. Rev. Biophys. Biophys. Chem. 18:271-308.) has been adapted to an ACAS 570 (laser scanning microscope) system to measure fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) on individual human peripheral blood T cells. Photobleaching was completed in approximately 100 ms in our case and it followed double-exponential kinetics. The energy transfer efficiency (E) was approximately 20% between the CD4 epitopes OKT4-FITC and Leu-3a-PE as well as between OKT4E-FITC and OKT4-PE. E was approximately 8% between OKT4-FITC and Leu-4-PE (alpha CD3) and barely detectable (approximately 4%) from OKT4-FITC to Leu-5b-PE (alpha CD2). The E values obtained by the photobleaching method were highly reproducible both in repeated measurement of identical samples and in experiments with different batches of cells and were in agreement with the flow cytometric donor quenching measurements. As expected, E measured between primary and secondary layers of antibodies increased (from approximately 14% to approximately 28%) when F(ab')2 fragments were substituted for whole antibody molecules as the donor. On a T cell line we mapped the distance between the idiotypic determinant of the T cell receptor (TcR) and the Leu-4 epitope of CD3 as proximal as E = 28%, as compared to E = 4% between a framework TcR epitope and Leu-4. In the latter case, however, approximately 40% less Leu-4 was bound suggesting that the antigen binding site of TcR is in close proximity with one of the two CD3 epsilon chains, which hence are not equivalent.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

Photobleaching of the photoactive yellow protein from Ectothiorhodospira halophila promotes binding to lipid bilayers: evidence from surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy.

The photoactive yellow protein (PYP) from the phototrophic bacterium Ectothiorhodospira halophila is a small, soluble protein that undergoes reversible photobleaching upon blue light irradiation and may function to mediate the negative phototactic response. Based on previous studies of the effects of solvent viscosity and of aliphatic alcohols on PYP photokinetics, we proposed that photobleaching is concomitant with a protein conformational change that exposes a hydrophobic region on the protein surface. In the present investigation, we have used surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy to characterize the binding of PYP to lipid bilayers deposited on a thin silver film. SPR spectra demonstrate that the net negatively charged PYP molecule can bind in a saturable manner to electrically neutral, net positively, and net negatively charged bilayers. Illumination with either blue or white light of a PYP solution, which is in contact with the bilayer, at concentrations below saturation results in an increase in the extent of binding, consistent with exposure of a high affinity hydrophobic surface in the photobleached state, a property that may contribute to its biological function. A value for the thickness of the bound PYP layer (23 A), obtained from theoretical fits to the SPR spectra, is consistent with the structure of the protein determined by x-ray crystallography and indicates that the molecule binds with its long axis parallel to the membrane surface.

Adsorption↗

Analysis of fluorophore diffusion by continuous distributions of diffusion coefficients: application to photobleaching measurements of multicomponent and anomalous diffusion.

Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) is widely used to measure fluorophore diffusion in artificial solutions and cellular compartments. Two new strategies to analyze FRAP data were investigated theoretically and applied to complex systems with anomalous diffusion or multiple diffusing species: 1) continuous distributions of diffusion coefficients, alpha(D), and 2) time-dependent diffusion coefficients, D(t). A regression procedure utilizing the maximum entropy method was developed to resolve alpha(D) from fluorescence recovery curves, F(t). The recovery of multi-component alpha(D) from simulated F(t) with random noise was demonstrated and limitations of the method were defined. Single narrow Gaussian alpha(D) were recovered for FRAP measurements of thin films of fluorescein and size-fractionated FITC-dextrans and Ficolls, and multi-component alpha(D) were recovered for defined fluorophore mixtures. Single Gaussian alpha(D) were also recovered for solute diffusion in viscous media containing high dextran concentrations. To identify anomalous diffusion from FRAP data, a theory was developed to compute F(t) and alpha(D) for anomalous diffusion models defined by arbitrary nonlinear mean-squared displacement versus time relations. Several characteristic alpha(D) profiles for anomalous diffusion were found, including broad alpha(D) for subdiffusion, and alpha(D) with negative amplitudes for superdiffusion. A method to deduce apparent D(t) from F(t) was also developed and shown to provide useful complementary information to alpha(D). alpha(D) and D(t) were determined from photobleaching measurements of systems with apparent anomalous subdiffusion (nonuniform solution layer) and superdiffusion (moving fluid layer). The results establish a practical strategy to characterize complex diffusive phenomena from photobleaching recovery measurements.

Biophysical Phenomena↗

Simple liquid-chromatographic method for Nile Red quantification in cell culture in spite of photobleaching.

Nile Red fluorescent marker is widely-used for different purposes, such as staining cell structures and for the visualization and localization of colloidal drug carriers. However, when fluorescence-dependent imaging or quantification is performed, the risk of inexact results is increased due to photobleaching. The proposed, simple quantification method of using an HPLC-UV-Vis system allows the determination of Nile Red even in photobleached samples. The intra- and inter-assay accuracies for all analytes were found to be within 94.9 and 100.8%, respectively, of target values. When samples underwent photobleaching by laser, UV-Vis detection varied at around 99+/-5%, whereas fluorescence decreased down to 86%. Such results show this method to be interesting for approaches where quantification should be performed after analysis such as fluorescent imaging.

Calibration↗

A polarized photobleaching study of DNA reorientation in agarose gels.

Polarized fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (pFRAP) has been used to study the internal dynamics of relatively long DNA molecules embedded in gels that range in concentration from 1% to 5% agarose. The data indicate that, even in very congested gels, rapid internal relaxation of DNA is largely unhindered; however, interactions with gel matrices apparently do perturb the larger amplitude, more slowly (microseconds to milliseconds) relaxing internal motions of large DNAs. The relationship between this work and recent studies which indicate that internal motions of DNA play an important role in the separation achieved with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis techniques is discussed. The polarized photobleaching technique is also analyzed in some detail. In particular, it is shown that "reversible" photobleaching phenomena are probably related to depletion of the ground state by intersystem crossing to the triplet state.

DNA↗

Spectroscopic characterization and photobleaching kinetics of hypericin-N-methyl pyrrolidone formulations.

Hypericin (HY) is a promising photosensitizer in photodynamic therapy (PDT). It was recently reported that appropriate use of N-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP) enhanced in vivo PDT efficacy of HY and enhanced in vivo delivery of HY. This present study further investigates the use of NMP and other known non-toxic pharmaceutical additives, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP, K29/32) and copolyvidonum (S630), for formulating HY to enhance its delivery with photodynamic activity as a goal in mind. Hence, the first objective of this study was to characterize the solubilization of HY by NMP, K29/32 and S630. Thermodynamic considerations were used to explain the solvation process. Photobleaching is another important property of photosensitizers. There is no report on the photostability of HY in pharmaceutical formulations used for PDT. Therefore, the second objective of this study was to investigate the photobleaching of HY in these formulations. The fluorescence of HY was found to increase significantly in higher concentrations of NMP or when 5% of polymer was co-mixed with 5% of NMP solution. The photobleaching of HY in these formulations followed first-order kinetics. The loss of fluorescence paralleled to the loss of absorption of HY. The formulation of HY with 40% NMP was found to be the most stable.

Anthracenes↗

Fluorescence localization after photobleaching (FLAP): a new method for studying protein dynamics in living cells.

FLAP is a new method for localized photo-labelling and subsequent tracking of specific molecules within living cells. It is simple in principle, easy to implement and has a wide potential application. The molecule to be located carries two fluorophores: one to be photobleached and the other to act as a reference label. Unlike the related methods of fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) and fluorescence loss in photobleaching (FLIP), the use of a reference fluorophore permits the distribution of the photo-labelled molecules themselves to be tracked by simple image differencing. In effect, FLAP is therefore comparable with methods of photoactivation. Its chief advantage over the method of caged fluorescent probes is that it can be used to track chimaeric fluorescent proteins directly expressed by the cells. Although methods are being developed to track fluorescent proteins by direct photoactivation, these still have serious drawbacks. In order to demonstrate FLAP, we have used nuclear microinjection of cDNA fusion constructs of beta-actin with yellow (YFP) and cyan (CFP) fluorescent proteins to follow both the fast relocation dynamics of monomeric (globular) G-actin and the much slower dynamics of filamentous F-actin simultaneously in living cells.

Actins↗

Class I major histocompatibility complex proteins diffuse isotropically on immune interferon-activated endothelial cells despite anisotropic cell shape and cytoskeletal organization: application of fluorescence photobleaching recovery with an elliptical beam.

Interferon gamma induces striking phenotypic alterations in confluent cultures of human vascular endothelial cells (HEC), including cell shape change from polygonal to elongated and cytoskeletal actin rearrangement from dense peripheral bands to longitudinal bundles of stress fibers. Since many transmembrane proteins, including class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC) proteins, interact with cytoskeletal actin, an interferon-gamma-induced anisotropic arrangement of stress fibers might cause anisotropic lateral diffusion of HEC class I MHC proteins. To test this hypothesis, we adapted the fluorescence photobleaching recovery technique to allow measurement of anisotropic diffusion of fluorescently labeled molecules on two-dimensional surfaces. A highly eccentric elliptical Gaussian laser beam was used to photobleach the sample and to monitor fluorescence recovery. In this technique, named "line fluorescence photobleaching recovery," lateral diffusion is measured along that axis of the sample that is perpendicular to the major axis of the elliptical beam. The lateral diffusion coefficient and fractional mobility are obtained by fitting the experimental data to a theoretical recovery curve, the form of which is determined by the solution to a modified version of the diffusion equation in which a tensor is used to describe diffusion in two orthogonal directions. Fluorescein-conjugated murine monoclonal antibodies were used to label class I MHC proteins on interferon-gamma-treated HEC and human dermal fibroblasts. These two cultured human cell types were found to be similar in their elongated shape and anisotropic stress fiber organization. Class I MHC protein lateral mobility was compared to that of fluorescein-labeled phosphatidyl-ethanolamine, a membrane phospholipid probe. Class I MHC proteins diffused anisotropically on human dermal fibroblasts, whereas fluorescein-labeled phosphatidylethanolamine diffused isotropically on this cell type. In contrast, both class I MHC proteins and fluorescein-labeled phosphatidylethanolamine diffused isotropically on interferon-gamma-treated HEC. These data suggest that neither elongated shape nor anisotropic stress fiber arrangement is sufficient to induce anisotropic diffusion of proteins on the HEC plasma membrane.

Algorithms↗

Diffusional mobility of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator mutant, delta F508-CFTR, in the endoplasmic reticulum measured by photobleaching of GFP-CFTR chimeras.

Mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator protein (CFTR) cause cystic fibrosis. The most common disease-causing mutation, DeltaF508, is retained in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and is unable to function as a plasma membrane chloride channel. To investigate whether the ER retention of DeltaF508-CFTR is caused by immobilization and/or aggregation, we have measured the diffusional mobility of green fluorescent protein (GFP) chimeras of wild type (wt)-CFTR and DeltaF508-CFTR by fluorescence recovery after photobleaching. GFP-labeled DeltaF508-CFTR was localized in the ER and wt-CFTR in the plasma membrane and intracellular membranes in transfected COS7 and Chinese hamster ovary K1 cells. Both chimeras localized to the ER after brefeldin A treatment. Spot photobleaching showed that CFTR diffusion (diffusion coefficient approximately 10(-9) cm(2)/s) was not significantly slowed by the DeltaF508 mutation and that nearly all wt-CFTR and DeltaF508-CFTR diffused throughout the ER without restriction. Stabilization of molecular chaperone interactions by ATP depletion produced remarkable DeltaF508-CFTR immobilization ( approximately 50%) and slowed diffusion (6.5 x 10(-10) cm(2)/s) but had little effect on wt-CFTR. Fluorescence depletion experiments revealed that the immobilized DeltaF508-CFTR in ATP-depleted cells remained in an ER pattern. The mobility of wt-CFTR and DeltaF508-CFTR was reduced by maneuvers that alter CFTR processing or interactions with molecular chaperones, including tunicamycin, geldanamycin, and lactacystin. Photobleaching of the fluorescent ER lipid diOC(4)(3) showed that neither ER restructuring nor fragmentation during these maneuvers was responsible for the slowing and immobilization of CFTR. These results suggest that (a) the ER retention of DeltaF508-CFTR is not due to restricted ER mobility, (b) the majority of DeltaF508-CFTR is not aggregated or bound to slowly moving membrane proteins, and (c) DeltaF508-CFTR may interact to a greater extent with molecular chaperones than does wt-CFTR.

Acetylcysteine↗

Quantitative fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) measurement with acceptor photobleaching and spectral unmixing.

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) by acceptor photobleaching is a simple but effective tool for measurements of protein-protein interactions. Until recently, it has been restricted to qualitative or relative assessments owing to the spectral bleed-through contamination resulting from fluorescence overlap between the donor and the acceptor. In this paper, we report a quantitative algorithm that combines the spectral unmixing technique with FRET by acceptor photobleaching. By spectrally unmixing the emissions before and after photobleaching, it is possible to resolve the spectral bleed-through and retrieve the FRET efficiency/interaction distance quantitatively. Using a human keratinocyte cell line transfected with cyan fluorescent protein (CFP)- and yellow fluorescent protein (YFP)-tagged Cx26 connexins as an example, FRET information at homotypic gap junctions is measured and compared with well-established methods. Results indicate that the new approach is sensitive, flexible, instrument independent and solely FRET dependent. It can achieve FRET estimations similar to that from a sensitized emission FRET method. This approach has a great advantage in providing the relative concentrations of the donor and the acceptor; this is, for example, very important in the comparative study of cell populations with variable expression levels.

Algorithms↗

Analysis of heterogeneous fluorescence photobleaching by video kinetics imaging: the method of cumulants.

The method of cumulants has been applied to digital video fluorescence microscopy. The method is used to reconstruct the distribution of fluorescent molecules before the initiation of fluorescence photobleaching, and to characterize heterogeneous photobleaching by imaging one or more of the cumulants of the bleaching decay rate. Using the pipelined pixel processor of the image analysis system for the bulk of the calculations, rather than the general-purpose host-computer CPU, the video kinetics imaging can be performed in near real-time. The method is applied to chick embryo myotubes labelled with fluorescein-conjugated alpha-bungarotoxin. The pre-bleach fluorescence distribution is derived, and the image of fluorescein fluorescence is separated from glutaraldehyde-induced autofluorescence on the basis of the spatially resolved average photobleaching decay rate.

Animals↗

Green fluorescent protein photobleaching: a model for protein damage by endogenous and exogenous singlet oxygen.

Characterization of protein damage during photosensitization of chlorin e6-treated cells was performed using the green fluorescent protein (GFP). The GFP-chromophore damage caused by singlet oxygen was studied in COS 7 kidney cells and E. coli bacteria following light irradiation. Electron spin resonance (ESR) revealed the generation of endogenous singlet oxygen (1O2) by photoactivated GFP, an effect similar to that produced by the exogenous photosensitizer chlorin e6. A light dose-dependent photobleaching effect of GFP was pronounced at low pH or upon photosensitization with chlorin e6. However, the 1O2 quenchers beta-carotene and sodium azide minimized GFP photo-bleaching. Gel electrophoresis of photosensitized GFP followed by fluorescence multi-pixel spectral imaging revealed the binding of chlorin e6 to GFP, affecting the photobleaching efficacy. Fluorescence multi-pixel spectral imaging of GFP-transfected COS 7 cells demonstrated the presence of GFP in the cytoplasm and nucleus, while chlorin e6 was found to be concentrated in the perinuclear vesicles. Exposure of the cells to light induced GFP photobleaching in the close vicinity of chlorin e6 vesicles. We conclude that photoactivated GFP generates endogenous 1O2, inducing chromophore damage, which can be enhanced by the cooperation of exogenous chlorin e6.

Animals↗

In vivo mTHPC photobleaching in normal rat skin exhibits unique irradiance-dependent features.

We report measurements performed on the normal skin of rats in vivo, which provide information on the photobleaching kinetics and mechanisms of the photosensitizer meso-tetrahydroxyphenyl chlorin (mTHPC). Loss of mTHPC fluorescence was monitored using in vivo fluorescence spectroscopy during photodynamic therapy (PDT) performed using 650 nm laser irradiation. The bleaching was evaluated for irradiances of 5, 20 and 50 mW cm(-2). Two distinct phases of mTHPC photobleaching were observed. In the first phase there was no obvious irradiance dependence in the loss of fluorescence vs fluence. The second phase was initiated by an irradiance-dependent discontinuity in the slope of the bleaching curve, after which the photobleaching rates showed an irradiance dependence consistent with an oxygen-dependent reaction process. To investigate the unusual shape of the in vivo bleaching curves, we measured the PDT-induced changes in O2 concentrations in mTHPC-sensitized spheroids irradiated with 2, 5 and 20 mW cm(-2) of 650 nm light. The oxygen concentration data indicated no unusual features within the range of fluences where the discontinuities in fluorescence were observed during in vivo spectroscopy. The fluorescence from the in vivo bleaching experiments thus reports a phenomenon that is not reported by measurements of the photochemical oxygen consumption in the spheroids.

Animals↗

Photobleaching of hypericin bound to human serum albumin, cultured adenocarcinoma cells and nude mice skin.

Hypericin is a promising photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy (PDT) characterized by a high yield of singlet oxygen. Photobleaching of hypericin has been studied by means of absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy in different biological systems: in human serum albumin solution, in cultured human adenocarcinoma WiDr cells and in the skin of nude mice. Prolonged exposure to light (up to 95 min, 100 mW/cm2) of wavelength around 596 nm induced fluence-dependent photobleaching of hypericin in all studied systems. The photobleaching was not oxygen dependent, and singlet oxygen probably played no significant role. Emission bands in the spectral regions 420-560 nm and above 600 nm characterize the photoproducts formed. An emission band at 615-635 nm was observed after irradiation of cells incubated with hypericin or of mouse skin in vivo but not in albumin solution. The excitation spectrum of these products resembled that of hypericin. Hypericin appears to be more photostable than most sensitizers used in PDT, including mTHPC and Photofrin.

Animals↗