A bioluminescence technique for quantitative and structure-associated imaging of pyruvate

A novel bioluminescence assay has been developed for measuring pyruvate within sections of snap-frozen tissue in a quantitative manner as well as with a spatial resolution on a microscopical level. The assay was verified via HPLC and two independent photometric tests. The novel assay makes it possible to determine pyruvate concentrations in cryosections in the range of 0-5.0 mu mol/g tissue ( dry weight). Based on the analysis of samples of given pyruvate concentrations, the assay exhibits a recovery with a deviation <= 15%. The minimal detectable amount was 0.02 pmol based on a 20 mu m thick tissue section with an area of 1 cm(2). Combination of the already established imaging bioluminescence techniques for ATP, glucose, and lactate with the novel pyruvate assay allows for a comprehensive characterization of the metabolic profile of individual tumors. As the redox state of cancer cells can be critical for the efficiency of irradiation and a number of chemotherapeutics, and as pyruvate and lactate are known to have radical scavenger functions, we hypothesize that the novel bioluminescence assay may be used for measuring the pretherapeutic lactate-to-pyruvate ratio which may predict the radiosensitivity of individual malignancies.