ABSTRACT
Photodynamic inactivation (PDI) is currently receiving interest for its potential as an antimicrobial treatment. Although photosensitizing agents and light have been used for medical purposes for a very long time, only a little information is available about the mechanism of PDI for bacteria. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a gram negative bacteria involved in chronic infections in cystic fibrosis patients and also one of the commonest agents of hospital acquired infections. In the present study the sensitivity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to the phototoxic effects of the mono(acridyl)bis(arginyl)porphyrin (MABAP) has been investigated as well as the photophysical and photochemical properties of this cationic porphyrin complexed to [poly(dG-dC)](2) to investigate the mechanisms that lead to bacteria inactivation. Both picosecond time-resolved fluorescence and femtosecond to nanosecond transient absorption measurements give evidence that while MABAP can react through its triplet state and/or an ultrafast electron transfer with guanine, its intercalation between GC base pairs is not the main target of MABAP photoactivity. The analysis of both fluorescence emission and excitation spectra reveals the occurrence of an energy transfer through the DNA double helix between the acridine and porphyrin chromophores of MABAP, as previously observed for the stacked free molecule in solution. This efficient process may lead to the excitation of twice more porphyrin chromophores in MABAP by comparison to other cationic porphyrins.
Subject(s)
Acridines/chemistry , Anti-Bacterial Agents/chemistry , Porphyrins/chemistry , Acridines/pharmacology , Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology , Cell Survival/drug effects , Microbial Sensitivity Tests , Molecular Structure , Photochemistry , Porphyrins/pharmacology , Pseudomonas aeruginosa/cytology , Pseudomonas aeruginosa/drug effectsABSTRACT
The phototransformation of 2-chloro, 6-chloro and 2,6-dichloropurines under UVC excitation (254 nm) has been studied and the major photoproducts have been identified using absorption spectroscopy, HPLC and mass spectrometry. It was shown that hydroxypurines were formed as the main products for all three investigated compounds both in the presence and absence of oxygen. In the case of 6-chloro- and 2,6-dichloropurine, a photodimer is also formed as a minor photoproduct in the absence of oxygen but is efficiently quenched in the presence of oxygen. Nanosecond photolysis experiments also revealed significant intersystem crossing to the triplet state of the chloropurines which has been characterized (transient absorption spectra, triplet formation quantum yields and rate constants of quenching by oxygen, Mn2+ ions and ground state). Experimental evidence allows to conclude that the triplet state is involved in photodimer formation whereas the hydroxypurine is formed from the reaction of the excited singlet state of chloropurines with the solvent (water addition) through heterolytic C-Cl bond rupture. Mass spectrometry and 1H NMR results allowed to propose a chemical pathway for dimer formation in the case of 2,6-dichloropurine in a two-step process: first a homolytic rupture of C-Cl bond in the triplet state of the molecule with the formation of purinyl radicals, which subsequently react with an excess of ground state molecules and/or hydroxypurine primarily formed.
Subject(s)
Chlorine Compounds/chemistry , Purines/chemistry , Molecular Biology , Oxidation-Reduction/radiation effects , Photochemistry , SpectrophotometryABSTRACT
The aggregation process of pyropheophorbide-a methyl ester (PPME), a second-generation photosensitizer, was investigated in various solvents. Absorption and fluorescence spectra showed that the photosensitizer was under a monomeric form in ethanol as well as in dimyristoyl-L-alpha-phosphatidylcholine liposomes while it was strongly aggregated in phosphate buffer. A quantitative determination of reactive oxygen species production by PPME in these solvents has been undertaken by electron spin resonance associated with spin trapping technique and absorption spectroscopy. In phosphate buffer, both electron spin resonance and absorption measurements led to the conclusion that singlet oxygen production was not detectable while hydroxyl radical production was very weak. In liposomes and ethanol, singlet oxygen and hydroxyl radical production increased highly; the singlet oxygen quantum yield was determined to be 0.2 in ethanol and 0.13 in liposomes. The hydroxyl radical production origin was also investigated. Singlet oxygen was formed from PPME triplet state deactivation in the presence of oxygen. Indeed, the triplet state formation quantum yield of PPME was found to be about 0.23 in ethanol, 0.15 in liposomes (too small to be measured in PBS).
Subject(s)
Dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine/chemistry , Ethanol/chemistry , Liposomes/chemistry , Phosphates/chemistry , Photosensitizing Agents/chemistry , Porphyrins/chemistry , Absorption , Chemical Phenomena , Chemistry, Physical , Dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine/radiation effects , Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy/methods , Hydroxyl Radical/chemistry , Hydroxyl Radical/radiation effects , Lasers , Liposomes/radiation effects , Molecular Structure , Porphyrins/radiation effects , Quantum Theory , Reactive Oxygen Species/chemistry , Reactive Oxygen Species/radiation effects , Sensitivity and Specificity , Singlet Oxygen/chemistry , Singlet Oxygen/radiation effects , Spectrometry, Fluorescence/methods , Water/chemistryABSTRACT
The reaction between the anaesthetic agent 2,6-diisopropylphenol (propofol, PPF) and singlet oxygen (1O2) has been investigated in aqueous solution by means of HPLC, GC, absorption spectroscopy and laser flash photolysis with infrared luminescence detection. The rate constants for the physical and chemical quenching of 1O2 by PPF (kPPF) are found to be 2.66 x 10(5) M(-1) s(-1) and approximately 3.2 x 10(6) M(-1) s(-1) in CD3OD and D2O-CD3OD (75:25 v/v), respectively. The reaction of propofol with singlet oxygen produced by light irradiation of Rose Bengal leads essentially to two reaction products, 2,6-diisopropyl-p-benzoquinone and 3,5,3',5'-tetraisopropyl-(4,4')-diphenoquinone that are unambiguously identified from comparison with authentic samples.
Subject(s)
Anesthetics, Intravenous/chemistry , Propofol/chemistry , Singlet Oxygen/chemistry , Chromatography, Gas , Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid , KineticsABSTRACT
Bacteriochlorin a (BCA) is a potential photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy of cancer. It has been shown previously that the photoefficiency of the dye is mainly dependent on singlet oxygen (1O2) generation. Nanosecond laser flash photolysis was used to produce and to investigate the excited triplet state of the dye in methanol, phosphate buffer and dimiristoyl-L-alpha-phosphatidylcholine (DMPC) liposomes. The transients were characterized in terms of their absorption spectra, decay kinetics, molar absorption coefficients and formation quantum yield of singlet-triplet intercrossing. The lifetime of the BCA triplet state was measured at room temperature. The triplet-state quantum yield is quite high in methanol (0.7) and in DMPC (0.4) but only 0.095 in phosphate buffer. In the last case, BCA is in a monomer-dimer equilibrium, and the low value of the quantum yield observed was ascribed to the fact the triplet state is only formed by the monomers.
Subject(s)
Lasers , Photolysis , Photosensitizing Agents/chemistry , Porphyrins/chemistry , Buffers , Dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine/chemistry , Kinetics , Liposomes , Logistic Models , Methanol/chemistry , Phosphates/chemistry , Protein Conformation , Reactive Oxygen Species/chemistry , Spectrophotometry, AtomicABSTRACT
The photochemistry of 2-chloropyrimidine (ClPy) was investigated by means of nanosecond laser flash photolysis, HPLC, mass spectrometry, polarography and absorption spectroscopy. Two major products were formed on low-intensity UV irradiation (lambda = 254 nm) of ClPy in anaerobic aqueous solution: 2-hydroxypyrimidine (quantum yield approximately 0.01) and a compound identified as 2-chloro-4,2'-bipyrimidine (quantum yield approximately 0.005). Only the former of these products was obtained under aerobic conditions. Investigation by nanosecond flash photolysis revealed the occurrence of efficient intersystem crossing to the ClPy triplet state; the deactivation processes from this state were determined. Photosensitised generation of the ClPy triplet state showed that the triplet is involved in the formation of the bipyrimidine. A reaction scheme is proposed comprising two reaction channels: heterolytic rupture of the C-Cl bond in the excited singlet state of ClPy leading to formation of 2-hydroxypyrimidine, and homolytic C-Cl rupture in the triplet state with creation of pyrimidinyl radicals, which react with excess ClPy to give 2-chloro-4,2'-bipyrimidine.
