title: Lifetime and diffusion of singlet oxygen in a cell.
abstract: In time- and spatially resolved experiments, singlet molecular oxygen, O(2)(a(1)Delta(g)), was created in a single nerve cell upon irradiation of a sensitizer incorporated in the cell nucleus using a focused laser beam. The singlet oxygen thus produced was detected by its infrared phosphorescence. Data obtained indicate that, contrary to common perception, this reactive species can be quite long-lived in a cell and, as such, can diffuse over appreciable distances including across the cell membrane into the extra-cellular environment. These results provide a new perspective for mechanistic studies of photoinduced cell death and intracellular signaling.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, and Department of Physiology, University of Aarhus, DK-8000 Arhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Esben
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Skovsen
authors.forename: John W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Snyder
authors.forename: John D C
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Lambert
authors.forename: Peter R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Ogilby
mesh_terms: D004058:Diffusion; D026082:Singlet Oxygen / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D026082:Singlet Oxygen