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Study of intercellular communication /intracellular Ca2+ movements by Flash Photolysis (CAT#: STEM-ST-0325-WXH)

Introduction

Conversion of precursors by photolytic chemistry (“flash photolysis”) is a relatively new tool for biomedical research. By synthesis of suitable precursors (“caged compounds”) it is possible to optically probe cell and tissue function with high spatiotemporal resolution.<br />Ca2+ is a ubiquitous intracellular messenger that controls diverse cellular functions but can become toxic and cause cell death.




Principle

Flash photolysis is a pump-probe laboratory technique, in which a sample is first excited by a strong pulse of light from a pulsed laser of nanosecond, picosecond, or femtosecond pulse width or by another short-pulse light source such as a flash lamp. This first strong pulse is called the pump pulse and starts a chemical reaction or leads to an increased population for energy levels other than the ground state within a sample of atoms or molecules. Typically the absorption of light by the sample is recorded within short time intervals (by a so-called test or probe pulses) to monitor relaxation or reaction processes initiated by the pump pulse.

Applications

Used to study light-induced processes in organic molecules, polymers, nanoparticles, semiconductors, photosynthesis in plants, signaling, and light-induced conformational changes in biological systems.

Procedure

The process of laser flash photolysis can be divided into three steps: absorption, excitation and decomposition.
First, when the laser beam hits the surface of the material, the photons will be absorbed by the material, making the material molecules or atoms in an excited state.
Then, the material molecules or atoms in the excited state will transition to a lower energy level state through spontaneous emission or excitation by external photons.
Finally, the molecules or atoms of matter will release energy during the transition process, which will break down into smaller molecules or atoms.

Materials

Flash Photolysis Spectrometer