A classical dye, aluminium phthalocyanine (AlPc), is used to study the photochemical processes involved in the chromophore-assisted laser inactivation technique. Both cell-free and cell-based systems are investigated by novel methods and radical reaction chemistry. Findings on the photochemical pathways in two models representing cell-free and a cell-based systems are reported. In the cell-free system, the unsubstituted, free, fluorescence-active photosensitiser AlPc recovers its fluorescence signal by means of phosphorescence through a reversible photobleaching process. In the cell-based system, photoactivation of substituted AlPc conjugated to an antibody results in the loss of fluorescence signal at the area examined. Reinjection of the AlPc-conjugated antibodies restores the fluorescence signal.