Investigation of the recovery phenomenon in immunofluorescence after laser excitation.

Laser excitation was applied in two standard immunopathological indirect immunoflorescence systems in order to investigate bleaching and recovery of fluorescence intensity upon repeated illuminations. Variation of illumination times and dark periods between these showed that the recovery phenomenon is a function of both the (time times energy) product of excitation and the length of dark intervals. The value of high energy excitation in immunofluorescence in providing insight into the mechanisms of bleaching and recovery is discussed.