Chemical Physics Seminar: Bacteriochlorophylls as Near Infrared Photo-Switches for Oxygen Radical Formation

Abstract:

Reactive oxygen species initiate various processes in physiological and pathophysiological conditions that often start locally within a cell or a small number of cells at a confined location and propagate onward to distal sites. We present a novel means for generating and following a confined oxidative insult in vitro and in vivo. The oxidative insult consists mainly of superoxide and hydroxyl radicals locally generated by near infrared illumination of bacteriochlorophyll derivatives.