Photophysical Properties of Xanthophylls in Carotenoproteins from Human Retina.
The macula of the human retina contains high amounts of the xanthophyll carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin [a mixture of (3R,3′R)-zeaxanthin and (3R,3′S-meso)-zeaxanthin]. Recently, it was shown that the uptake and the stabilization of zeaxanthin and lutein into the retina are likely to be mediated by specific xanthophyll-binding proteins (XBP). Here, we have used femtosecond pump–probe spectroscop
