Cell death induced by direct laser activation of singlet oxygen at 1270 nm

Singlet oxygen plays a major role in many chemical and biological photo-oxidation processes. It has a high chemical reactivity, which is commonly harnessed for therapeutic issues. Indeed, singlet oxygen is recognized as the major cytotoxic agent in photodynamic therapy. In this treatment of cancer, singlet oxygen is created, among other reactive species, by an indirect transfer of energy from light to molecular oxygen via excitation of a photosensitizer. In this paper, we show that the conventional singlet oxygen production scheme can be simplified. Production of singlet oxygen is achieved in living cells from photosensitizer-free 1270 nm laser excitation of the electronic ground state of molecular oxygen. The quantity of singlet oxygen produced in this way is sufficient to induce an oxidative stress leading to cell death. Other effects such as thermal stress are discriminated, and we conclude that cell death is only due to singlet oxygen creation. This new simplified scheme of singlet oxygen activation can be seen as a breakthrough for phototherapies of malignant diseases and/or as a non-invasive possibility to generate reactive oxygen species in a tightly controlled manner. (paper)