A high frequency ultrasound-coupled fluorescence tomography system, primarily designed for imaging of protoporphyrin IX production in skin tumors in vivo, is demonstrated for the first time. The design couples fiber-based spectral sampling of the protoporphyrin IX fluorescence emission with high frequency ultrasound imaging, allowing thin-layer fluorescence intensities to be quantified. The sys...

Carbon monoxide (CO), produced endogenously by heme oxygenase, has been implicated as a neuronal messenger. Carotid bodies are sensory organs that regulate ventilation by responding to alterations of blood oxygen, CO2, and pH. Changes in blood gases are sensed by glomus cells in the carotid body that synapse on afferent terminals of the carotid sinus nerve that projects to respiratory-related n...

Heme is a compound consisting of an iron (Fe) atom bound to pyrrole ring forming protoporphyrin IX (PPIX). Protoporphyrin combines with protein-forming hemoprotein that plays essential role in oxygen-binding and transport as well the process energy production mitochondria. Some cancer cells have more heme biosynthesis than normal cells, which thought be linked cell growth. Inhibition some leads...

Erythropoietic protoporphyria is a genetic disease characterized by sensitivity to sunlight caused by the accumulation of protoporphyrin IX. Photoprotection against ultraviolet A and visible light is necessary for erythropoietic porphyria patients because the absorption spectrum of protoporphyrin IX lies in both ultraviolet A and visible light region. We developed a novel index, in vitro porphy...

The Italian traditional dry-cured ham (Parma ham) shows a stable bright red color that is achieved without the use of nitrite and/or nitrate. In this study we examined the pigment spectroscopically, fluoroscopically and by using HPLC and ESI-HR-MASS analysis. Porphyrin derivative other than acid hematin were contained in the HCl-containing acetone extract from Parma ham. A strong fluorescence p...

At the moment only early detection of lung cancer offers a good prognosis for the patients. Conventional white light endoscopy is mostly insufficient for early diagnosis. Therefore we developed a system of fluorescence diagnosis using 5-aminolaevulinic acid (ALA) exogeneously applied. As precursor of the heme synthesis it is metabolized to protoporphyrin IX - a red fluorescent substance. Theref...

A study of greening in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) cotyledons grown under a light (14-hour) dark (10-hour) photoperiodic regime was undertaken. The pools of protoporphyrin IX, Mg-protoporphyrin IX monoester, protochlorophyllide, and protochlorophyllide ester were determined spectrofluorometrically. Chlorophyll a and b were monitored spectrophotometrically. Pigments were extracted during the 3...

In this paper we show that the ferrochelatase defect in erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP) can readily be identified in mitogen-stimulated lymphocytes since such cells from patients with EPP accumulate approximately twice as much protoporphyrin IX as cells from normal subjects when incubated with a porphyrin precursor, gamma-aminolevulinic acid (ALA). Treatment of cultures with ALA and with th...

Manganese protoporphyrin IX was recombined with apoproteins of cytochrome c peroxidase, horseradish peroxidase, myoglobin, and hemoglobin to prepare artificial hemoproteins containing the manganese porphyrin in place of protoheme or iron protoporphyrin IX. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of manganese (II) protoporphyrin IX and its apohemoprotein complexes were measured at Xand K-b...