Research Article
Blake T Dotta, Carly A Buckner
Abstract
Increased emissions of photons or shifts in spectral power densities of photons have been reliably measured from malignant cells compared to non-malignant cells. Previous experiments have shown that specific wavelengths within the visible spectrum emitted from melanoma cells were associated with the activation or inhibition of specific molecular structures or pathways. To discern if numbers of photons could differentiate the dynamic state of a critical protein (enzyme), Protein Kinase A (PKA), melanoma cells were transfected with either catalytic subunits, regulatory subunits, or a mutant dominant negative PKA. Compared to typical melanoma cells those transfected with the regulatory subunit exhibited a marked (10 to 100) increase in photon emissions for several hours. The small but significant increase in photon emissions from cells transfected with the catalytic subunit was more brief (first 20 min) and less intense. Photon emissions from cells transfected with inhibitory components did not differ from typical melanoma cells. The vectorial characteristics of the photon emissions were sufficient to clearly differentiate activation of various components of PKA domains.