Second-order nonlinear optical properties of fluorescent proteins for second-harmonic imaging

de Meulenaere, Evelien;Asselberghs, Inge;de Wergifosse, Marc;Botek, Edith;Clays, Koen;et.al.
(2009) Journal of Materials Chemistry — Vol. 19, n° 40, p. 7514-7519 (2009)

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  • de Meulenaere, EvelienUCLouvain
    Author
  • Asselberghs, IngeUCLouvain
    Author
  • Botek, EdithUnamur
    Author
  • Spaepen, StijnUCLouvain
    Author
  • Vanderleyden, JosUCLouvain
    Author
  • Clays, KoenUCLouvain
    Author
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Abstract
The second-order nonlinear optical properties of three fluorescent proteins (FPs) (green, EGFP; yellow, EYFP; and red, DsRed) have been experimentally determined by frequency-resolved femtosecond hyper-Rayleigh scattering. As expected, DsRed, with its lower-energy bandgap between ground and excited state, exhibits the largest intrinsic hyperpolarizability. The anomalously low first hyperpolarizability for the yellow variant has been rationalized in terms of the centrosymmetrical arrangement between the phenolic Tyr203 (Tyr = tyrosine) residue and the chromophoric Tyr66 moiety, leaving the small imidazolinone moiety as the only effective non-centrosymmetric chromophore for second-order nonlinear effects. The experimental findings are corroborated by high-level computational results and suggest molecular engineering strategies to produce a full rainbow of FPs with enhanced nonlinear optical properties.
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de Meulenaere, E., Asselberghs, I., de Wergifosse, M., Botek, E., Spaepen, S., Champagne, B., Vanderleyden, J., & Clays, K. (2009). Second-order nonlinear optical properties of fluorescent proteins for second-harmonic imaging. Journal of Materials Chemistry, 19(40), 7514-7519. https://doi.org/10.1039/b907789h (Original work published 2009)