Light-induced photon emission by mammalian cells

In this work, the light-induced photon emission (IPE) by suspensions of mammalian cells was examined. IPE is extremely low and for detection in a single photon counting device with a cooled EMI 9558QB photomultiplier tube was used. The mammalian cells in this study were from different tissues and different mammalian species including cat, Chinese hamster, cow, dog, human, monkey, mouse and rat. The IPE was detected in all mammalian cells tested, but was different for the various cell types, ranging from 4 to 100 photons per 10(4) cells. Although our data agree with previous studies in that the IPE of non-fibroblastic normal cells is distinct from that of malignant cells our results reveal that cells of fibroblastic origin show the highest IPE values.