Molecules (May 2012)

Reversible Low-Light Induced Photoswitching of Crowned Spiropyran-DO3A Complexed with Gadolinium(III) Ions

  • André Knoesen,
  • Noelle L’Etoile,
  • Chantal Brueggemann,
  • Chuqiao Tu,
  • Diego R. Yankelevich,
  • Angelique Y. Louie,
  • Klaus Kruttwig

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules17066605
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 17, no. 6
pp. 6605 – 6624

Abstract

Read online

Photoswitchable spiropyran has been conjugated to the crowned ring system DO3A, which improves its solubility in dipolar and polar media and stabilizes the merocyanine isomer. Adding the lanthanide ion gadolinium(III) to the macrocyclic ring system leads to a photoresponsive magnetic resonance imaging contrast agent that displays an increased spin-lattice relaxation time (<em>T</em><sub>1</sub>) upon visible light stimulation. In this work, the photoresponse of this photochromic molecule to weak light illumination using blue and green light emitting diodes was investigated, simulating the emission spectra from bioluminescent enzymes. Photon emission rate of the light emitting diodes was changed, from 1.75 × 10<sup>16</sup> photons·s<sup>−1</sup> to 2.37 × 10<sup>12</sup> photons·s<sup>−1</sup>. We observed a consistent visible light-induced isomerization of the merocyanine to the spiropyran form with photon fluxes as low as 2.37 × 10<sup>12</sup> photons·s<sup>−1</sup> resulting in a relaxivity change of the compound. This demonstrates the potential for use of the described imaging probes in low light level applications such as sensing bioluminescence enzyme activity. The isomerization behavior of gadolinium(III)-ion complexed and non-complexed spiropyran-DO3A was analyzed in water and ethanol solution in response to low light illumination and compared to the emitted photon emission rate from over-expressed <em>Gaussia princeps</em> luciferase.

Keywords