Quantitative bioluminescence imaging--a method for the detection of metabolite distributions in frozen tissues

A novel technique allows for measurement of metabolite distributions in tissue cryosections at a microscopic level using bioluminescence, single photon imaging, and computerized image analysis. Metabolites, such as ATP, glucose and lactate are registered in absolute concentration units, and the respective images can be correlated with each other and with histological structures by specific algorithms. One striking difference between malignant tumors and normal tissue is the pronounced heterogeneity of metabolite distributions in malignancies contrasted by rather homogeneous patterns obtained in many normal organs. The heterogeneous distribution of metabolites in solid tumors reflects the chaotic organization of the histological architecture and of the microvascular supply in cancerous tissue. Pixel-to-pixel comparison of metabolite distributions measured in cervix cancers of patients revealed a negative linear correlation between glucose and ATP concentrations at identical locations. In contrast, local lactate concentration was positively correlated with ATP.