Two photon-induced fluorescence intensity and anisotropy decays of diphenylhexatriene in solvents and lipid bilayers

We measured the fluorescence intensity and anisotropy decays of 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH)-labeled membranes resulting from simultaneous two-photon excitation of fluorescence. Comparison of these two-photon data with the more usual one-photon measurements revealed that DPH displayed identical intensity decays, anisotropy decays, and order parameters for one- and two-photon excitation. While the anisotropy data are numerically distinct, they can be compared by use of the factor 10/7, which accounts for the two-photon versus one-photon photoselection. The increased time 0 anisotropy of DPH can result in increased resolution of complex anisotropy decays. Global analysis of the one- and two-photon data reveals consistency with a single apparent angle between the absorption and the emission oscillators. The global anisotropy analysis also suggests that, except for the photoselection factor, the anisotropy decays are the same for one-and two-photon excitation. This ideal behavior of DPH as a two-photon absorber, and its high two-photon cross section, makes DPH a potential probe for confocal two-photon microscopy and other systems where it is advantageous to use long-wavelength (680- to 760-nm) excitation.