Fluorescence study of DNA-dye complexes using one-photon and two-photon picosecond excitation

Preliminary results of investigation of one-photon- and two-photon-induced fluorescence of acridine orange (AO), epirubicin (ER), hypericin (HYP), and ethidium bromide (EB) in complexes with DNA are presented. A spectrofluorometer based on a picosecond Nd:YAG laser was used for investigations of two-photon (1064-nm, 1-mJ, 40-ps) and one-photon (532- and 355-nm) dye excitation. The spectra of two-photon-induced fluorescence of dyes and their complexes with DNA as well as the kinetics of dyes' fluorescence intensification during their interactions with DNA in dependence on the biomacromolecule concentration were obtained. The intensities of AO, HYP, and EB fluorescence were increased 2.4, 3.2, and 8 times, respectively, after binding with DNA at two-photon excitation, while at one-photon excitation the corresponding values were 2.5, 3.7, and 10 times. The difference in fluorescence enhancement during DNA-dye complex formation at linear and nonlinear excitation may possibly be associated with the fact that the cross sections of one-photon and two-photon absorption, in general, change unequally during the binding of dyes to organic molecules and bathocromic shift of the electronic transitions. It was shown that the peak of AO fluorescence shifted to a longer wavelength on 10 nm after two-photon excitation at 1064 nm in comparison with one-photon excitation at 532 nm.