Changes in porphyrin nonlinear absorption owing to interaction with bovine serum albumin

Appl Opt. 2000 Aug 20;39(24):4431-5. doi: 10.1364/ao.39.004431.

Abstract

The changes in the nonlinear absorption of meso-tetrakis (p-sulfonatophenyl) porphyrin (TPPS(4)) caused by its binding to bovine serum albumin (BSA) were investigated in aqueous solutions. The nonlinear absorption depended on the excitation wavelength and pH. It is noteworthy that, for excitation at 640 nm, saturated absorption was observed in a TPPS(4) solution (pH 4.0), whereas reverse saturated absorption occurred for all pH values from 4.0 to 7.0 when BSA was added to TPPS(4). The presence of BSA also initiates an increase in the saturation intensity and a reduction of the nonlinear absorption coefficient. The interpretation of the results based on the binding of TPPS(4) to BSA is corroborated by linear absorption, fluorescence, light scattering, and flash-photolysis data.