Kao Joseph P Y, Muralidharan Sukumaran
Center for Biomedical Engineering and Technology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Methods Mol Biol. 2013;995:57-77. doi: 10.1007/978-1-62703-345-9_5.
Caged molecules are photosensitive molecules with latent biological activity. Upon exposure to light, they are rapidly transformed into bioactive molecules such as neurotransmitters or second messengers. They are thus valuable tools for using light to manipulate biology with exceptional spatial and temporal resolution. Since the temporal performance of the caged molecule depends critically on the rate at which bioactive molecules are generated by light, it is important to characterize the kinetics of the photorelease process. This is accomplished by initiating the photoreaction with a very brief but intense pulse of light (i.e., flash photolysis) and monitoring the course of the ensuing reactions through various means, the most common of which is absorption spectroscopy. Practical guidelines for performing flash photolysis and transient absorption spectroscopy are described in this chapter.
笼形分子是具有潜在生物活性的光敏分子。在光照下，它们会迅速转化为生物活性分子，如神经递质或第二信使。因此，它们是以非凡的空间和时间分辨率利用光来操纵生物学的宝贵工具。由于笼形分子的时间性能关键取决于光产生生物活性分子的速率，因此表征光释放过程的动力学很重要。这是通过用非常短暂但强烈的光脉冲引发光反应（即闪光光解）并通过各种手段监测随后反应的过程来实现的，其中最常用的是吸收光谱法。本章介绍了进行闪光光解和瞬态吸收光谱的实用指南。
