Rapid screening of photoactivatable metallodrugs: photonic crystal fibre microflow reactor coupled to ESI mass spectrometry.

We explore the efficacy of a hyphenated photonic crystal fibre microflow reactor - high-resolution mass spectrometer system as a method for screening the activity of potential new photoactivatable drugs. The use of light to activate drugs is an area of current development as it offers the possibility of reduced side effects due to improved spatial and temporal targeting and novel mechanisms of anticancer activity. The di-nuclear ruthenium complex [{(η-indan)RuCl}(μ-2,3-dpp)](PF), previously studied by Magennis (, 2007, , 5059) is used as a model drug to compare the system to standard irradiation techniques.

Photonic crystal fibres for chemical sensing and photochemistry.

In this review, we introduce photonic crystal fibre as a novel optofluidic microdevice that can be employed as both a versatile chemical sensor and a highly efficient microreactor. We demonstrate that it provides an excellent platform in which light and chemical samples can strongly interact for quantitative spectroscopic analysis or photoactivation purposes. The use of photonic crystal fibre in photochemistry and sensing is discussed and recent results on gas and liquid sensing as well as on photochemical and catalytic reactions are reviewed.

Long-distance laser propulsion and deformation- monitoring of cells in optofluidic photonic crystal fiber.

We introduce a unique method for laser-propelling individual cells over distances of 10s of cm through stationary liquid in a microfluidic channel. This is achieved by using liquid-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (HC-PCF). HC-PCF provides low-loss light guidance in a well-defined single mode, resulting in highly uniform optical trapping and propulsive forces in the core which at the same time acts as a microfluidic channel.

Fluorescence blinking of the RC-LH1 complex from Rhodopseudomonas palustris.

We investigate fluorescence blinking of individual RC-LH1 (reaction-centre-light-harvesting 1) complexes from the photosynthetic purple bacterium Rhodopseudomonas palustris. For both the on- and off-periods the telegraph-like intermittency of the fluorescence intensity follows power-law statistics with exponents between 1 and 2. Yet, this behaviour was only observed for a small fraction of the complexes studied.