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12-Oxo-9(11)-dehydroestradiol-17 beta (12-oxo-E2) was used to assay estrogen receptor binding in uterine cytosol preparations by an indirect fluorescence assay. In alkaline solution, 12-oxo-E2 has a fluorescence excitation maximum at 402 nm (epsilon = 24,000) and an emission maximum at 480 nm (phi f = 0.57), and its fluorescence can be observed down to 5 X 10(-11) M. The minimum detection limit of 12-oxo-E2 is 25 fmol by spectrofluorometry and 5 fmol by HPLC-fluorometry. Although this compound is not appreciably fluorescent at neutral pH (i.e., at conditions under which it binds to the estrogen receptor), receptor binding by fluorometry can be measured indirectly: After equilibration of 12-oxo-E2 with the receptor preparation and removal of excess free ligand, the receptor-12-oxo-E2 complex is disrupted, and fluorescence measurements are made on the dissociated 12-oxo-E2 in alkaline medium. This fluorometric assay was validated quantitatively by performing simultaneously, on the same receptor preparation, radiometric and fluorometric assays with [3H]E2 and [3H]-12-oxo-E2. The radiometric determinations with both compounds gave nearly equivalent estimates of receptor site concentrations, but the fluorometric estimate of binding site concentration was somewhat less (70-85%) than that expected on the basis of the [3H]E2 radiometric assay. The use of 12-oxo-E2 in an indirect spectro- or HPLC-fluorometric assay provides a means for assaying estrogen receptor concentrations by fluorescence with a sensitivity approaching that of radiometric techniques.

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RESUMEN

Four fluorescent estrogen ligands were investigated as agents for visualization of estrogen receptors in cells: 2-(2,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-6-hydroxy-3-benzofurancarboxylic acid delta-lactone (coumestrol) and 9(11)-dehydro-12-oxoestradiol [12-oxo-1,3,5-(10),9(11)-estratetraene-3, 17 beta-diol] (12-oxoestradiol), which are inherently fluorescent compounds; and tamoxifen [Z)-1-[4-(2-dimethylaminoethoxy)phenyl]-1,2-diphenyl-1-butene) and 4-hydroxytamoxifen [Z)-1-[4-(2-dimethylaminoethoxy) phenyl]-1-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2-phenyl-1-butene), which become maximally fluorescent only after ultraviolet irradiation. By conventional fluorescence techniques, these agents can be detected down to 10(-8) M in water, but only to 10(-6) to 10(-7) M in protein solutions; however, by photon-counting spectrofluorimetry, coumestrol and 12-oxoestradiol can be detected in protein solutions down to 5 X 10(-10) M. Three of these compounds have good affinity for the estrogen receptor: coumestrol (20%); 12-oxoestradiol (12%); and 4-hydroxytamoxifen (37%), relative to estradiol (100%). Under conditions where autoradiographic controls indicate that most of the estrogen receptor of MCF-7 human breast cancer cells is in the nucleus, we could demonstrate nuclear fluorescence using 10(-9) M concentrations of coumestrol, 12-oxoestradiol, and 4-hydroxytamoxifen. This nuclear fluorescence was abolished by a 200-fold excess of diethystilbestrol and could only be observed through a fluorescence microscope equipped with a microchannel image intensifier and a video camera detector that together provide a sensitivity enhancement of approximately 10(4). These studies indicate that the estrogen receptor in breast cancer cells can be visualized by fluorescence techniques, provided that the visualizing ligands have adequate affinity and specificity for the receptor and appropriate fluorescence characteristics, and provided that the fluorescence instrument has adequate sensitivity to observe fluorescence emission from cells treated with nM concentrations of the fluorescent agents.

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