Mitochondrial membrane potential after low-power laser irradiation

We used the lipophilic cationic fluorescent dye 5,5′,6,6′-tetrachloro-1,1′,3,3′-tetraethyl-benzimidazol-carbocyanine iodide (JC-1) to determine mitochondrial membrane potential (mΔψ) in Hep-2 cells after irradiation with low-power laser (λ=635 nm). Through this methodology it was possible to analyze the variation on mitochondrial number and mΔψ, in cells irradiated for 100, 150 and 200 s with energy density of 100 mJ/cm2. Our results show that JC-1 dye allows the identification of populations with different mitochondria morphology as well as the functionality of this organelle in the cells incubated for 1, 6 and 24 h, after irradiation with low-power laser.