Stain-free enucleation of mouse and human oocytes with a 1033 nm femtosecond laser.

Significance: Preparation of a recipient cytoplast by oocyte enucleation is an essential task for animal cloning and assisted reproductive technologies in humans. The femtosecond laser is a precise and low-invasive tool for oocyte enucleation, and it should be an appropriate alternative to traditional enucleation by a microneedle aspiration. However, until recently, the laser enucleation was performed only with applying a fluorescent dye.

Understanding the Mechanism of Light-Induced Age-Related Decrease in Melanin Concentration in Retinal Pigment Epithelium Cells.

It is known that during the process of aging, there is a significant decrease in the number of melanosomes in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells in the human eye. Melanosomes act as screening pigments in RPE cells and are fundamentally important for protection against the free radicals generated by light. A loss or change in the quality of melanin in melanosomes can lead to the development of senile pathologies and aggravation in the development of various retinal diseases.

Immunocytochemical Localization of XRCC1 and γH2AX Foci Induced by Tightly Focused Femtosecond Laser Radiation in Cultured Human Cells.

To assess the prospects for using intense femtosecond laser radiation in biomedicine, it is necessary to understand the mechanisms of its action on biological macromolecules, especially on the informational macromolecule-DNA. The aim of this work was to study the immunocytochemical localization of DNA repair protein foci (XRCC1 and γH2AX) induced by tightly focused femtosecond laser radiation in human cancer A549 cells. The results showed that no XRCC1 or γH2AX foci tracks were observed 30 min after cell irradiation with femtosecond pulses of 10 W∙cm peak power density.

Femtosecond laser-induced blastomere fusion results in embryo tetraploidy by common metaphase plate formation.

The cell fusion is a widespread process, which takes place in many systems in vivo and in vitro. Fusion of cells is frequently related to tetraploidy, which can be found within natural physiological conditions, e.g.

Impact of the Keto-Enol Tautomeric Equilibrium on the BODIPY Chromophore.

An intramolecular tautomeric fluorescent BODIPY sensor has been designed and synthesized. The obtained BODIPY dye is a combination of the 4-bora- 3a, 4a-diaza- s-indacene core and a diketone fragment. The study of conformational equilibria in the ground and excited states has been completed for a broad range of solvent polarity by steady state and NMR methods as well as by DFT and TD-DFT calculations.

Microparticle manipulation using femtosecond photonic nanojet-assisted laser cavitation.

We report the effect of laser cavitation in water initiated by femtosecond pulses confined into subwavelength volume of photonic nanojet of spherical microparticles. The effect of nanoscale optical breakdown was employed for controllable and nondestructive micromanipulation of silica microspheres. We combine this technique with optical trapping for cyclic particle movements and estimate a peak velocity and an acceleration acquired by microspheres propelled by nanojet cavitation.

Femtosecond laser surgery of two-cell mouse embryos: effect on viability, development, and tetraploidization.

The effect of the laser pulse energy and total expose of the energy incident on the embryo blastomere fusion probability was investigated. The probability of the four different events after laser pulse was determined: the fusion of two blastomeres with the following formation of tetraploid embryo, the destruction of the first blastomere occurs, the second blastomere conservation remains intact, the destruction and the death of both cells; two blastomeres were not fused, and no morphological changes occurred. We report on viability and quality of the embryo after laser surgery as a function of the laser energy incident.

Complexation of Donor-Acceptor Substituted Aza-Crowns with Alkali and Alkaline Earth Metal Cations. Charge Transfer and Recoordination in Excited State.

Complexation between two aza-15-crown-5 ethers bearing electron donor and acceptor fragments and alkali and alkaline earth perchlorates has been studied using absorption, steady-state fluorescence and femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. The spectral-luminescent parameters, the stability and dissociation constants of the complexes were calculated. The intramolecular charge transfer reaction takes place both in the excited state of the crowns and their complexes 1:1; the latter is subjected to photorecoordination resulting in a weakening or a complete disruption of coordination bond between nitrogen atom and metal cation, disposed within a cavity of the crown.

Passive mode locking in a Ti:sapphire laser using a single-walled carbon nanotube saturable absorber at a wavelength of 810 nm.

We report mode locking in a Ti:sapphire (Ti:Sa) laser at the wavelength of 810 nm using a polymer film with single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) applied as a saturable absorber. Pulses with 600 fs duration and 0.4 nJ energy were generated from the Ti:Sa laser with polymer-SWNT composite film for cw passive mode locking.

Nonlinear optical absorption of single-wall carbon nanotubes in carboxymethylcellulose thin polymerfilm and its application as a saturable absorber for mode-locking in pulsed Nd:glass laser.

Nonlinear optical absorption of single-wall carbon nanotubes in carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) thin polymer film has been studied by the Z-scan method. Nonlinear saturated absorption at lambda=1080 nm was registered with saturation intensity of 170 MW/cm(2). Ultrashort pulses with duration of 3 ps were generated at lambda=1055 nm using this composite polymer film as a saturable absorber for passive mode locking in a neodymium glass laser.