Sm. Evans et al., IDENTIFICATION OF HYPOXIA IN CELLS AND TISSUES OF EPIGASTRIC 9L RAT GLIOMA USING EF5 -1H-IMIDAZOL-1-YL)-N-(2,2,3,3,3-PENTAFLUOROPROPYL) ACETAMIDE], British Journal of Cancer, 72(4), 1995, pp. 875-882
One of the most sensitive hypoxia detection methods is based on the ob
servation that binding of nitroimidazoles to cellular macromolecules o
ccurs as a result of hypoxia-dependent bioreduction by cellular nitror
eductases. Nitroimidazole-binding techniques provide measurements of h
ypoxia to virtually any degree of spatial resolution and with a multip
licity of techniques. This paper demonstrates hypoxia imaging using in
vivo EF5 binding with detection by a fluorochrome-conjugated monoclon
al antibody. We investigated these techniques in the 9L glioma tumour,
in part because the exact nature of the hypoxia in this tumour system
is controversial. Our results demonstrate that following intravenous
injection of EF5, binding and detection using a monoclonal antibody in
9L gliomas is specific and oxygen dependent. Detection of binding usi
ng fluorescence microscopy can be performed on frozen tissues; tissue
sections can be counterstained with haematoxylin and eosin for light m
icroscopic analysis. Alternatively, the distribution of hypoxia in a t
umour can be inferred by examining individual tumour cells using flow
cytometric techniques. Based upon the results presented herein, the ra
diation-resistant phenotype of 9L epigastric tumours grown in our labo
ratories can be associated with the presence of hypoxic cells.