The light-oxygen effect in biological cells enhanced by highly localized surface plasmon-polaritons

Abstract

Here at the first time we suggested that the surface plasmon-polariton phenomenon which it is well described in metallic nanostructures could also be used for explanation of the unexpectedly strong oxidative effects of the low-intensity laser irradiation in living matters (cells, tissues, organism). We demonstrated that the narrow-band laser emitting at 1265 nm could generate significant amount of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) in both HCT116 and CHO-K1 cell cultures. Such cellular ROS effects could be explained through the generation of highly localized plasmon-polaritons on the surface of mitochondrial crista. Our experimental conditions, the low-intensity irradiation, the narrow spectrum band (<4 nm) of the laser and comparably small size bio-structures (~10 μm) were shown to be sufficient for the plasmon-polariton generation and strong laser field confinement enabling the oxidative stress observed.

Singlet oxygen stimulates mitochondrial bioenergetics in brain cells

“…Wavelength of 1262-1268 nm coincides with one of the highest absorption peaks of the oxygen molecule transforming it into singlet oxygen without photosensitizers (19); (20); (21). This property is used for the development of lasers in this spectrum, allowing for the generation of highly specific tool to study the role of singlet oxygen in physiology, pathology and as a highly promising instrument for therapy (18,22,23).The ability of the infrared laser pulse of 1267 nm to produce singlet oxygen in organic solution and in cancer cell line has clearly been demonstrated (17).…”

Effects of Low-Level Laser Irradiation on Mammalian Cell Cultures: Comparative Experimental Studies with Different Types of Lasers at 1260-1270 nm

“…Therefore, in the present study, the power spectral density of the low-power laser radiation at the point of its maximum is higher than that of the radiation provided by the high-power laser. All this allows us to conclude existence of the narrowband resonance effect presumably on the surface of mitochondrial membranes [18][19].…”

The Discrete Analysis of the Tissue Biopsy Images With Metamaterial Formalization: Identifying Tumor Locus

“…It should be mentioned, that the Bottcher-Bordewijk model allows for a feasible prediction of the permittivity of the medium [41], i. e. effective permittivity of the biological tissue sample. The model is described as follows: 12 In this case cell structure is of a random nature possessing some predictable average properties such as cell size and cell distribution density. It can be modelled by an aggregated of randomly distributed spherical shells.…”

“…A large knowledgebase has been created thanks to the recent studies of metamaterials [7][8][9]. Thus, the significance of the MMF for dealing with biological challenges [10][11][12] is clearly observed. Sensing, chemical and biomedical applications are possible thanks to the recent studies of electromagnetic radiation in THz frequency range.…”