Study on cell cycle using fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopic system based on a streak camera

The fluorescence lifetime of the HeLa cells which are transfected with green fluorescent proteins during the cell cycle is investigated using fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopic system based on a streak camera. Experimental results show that fluorescence lifetime of HeLa cells is between 2.50 ns and 3.00 ns during different processes of cell cycle. The fluorescence lifetime of the mitosis cell drops to 2.82 ns from 2.86 ns within one hour, and it further drops to 2.78 ns from 2.82 ns during the roughly eight hours of the pre-DNA-synthetic phase (G1-phase). The difference of the fluorescence lifetime implies that the macromolecular concentration in the nucleoplasm of the cell nucleus changes throughout the cell cycle, the study of which is significant to the understanding of macromolecular processes, kinetics and concentrations in the nucleoplasm of the cell nucleus throughout the cell cycle, as well as the regulation of cell cycles.