Visualization of oxidative processes at the cellular level during neutrophil-mediated cytotoxicity against a human hepatoma cell line, HCC-M.

Human neutrophil-mediated oxidative processes against a human hepatoma cell line, HCC-M, was visualized at the cellular level by using a silicon-intensified target camera and subsequently processing with a computer-assisted digital-imaging processor. Neutrophils were activated by a streptococcal preparation, OK-432. A hydroperoxide-sensitive tracer, dichlorofluorescein diacetate, was loaded in HCC-M and temporal and spatial changes of lipid peroxides in this cell after addition of stimulated neutrophils were analyzed. The luminol-dependent chemiluminescence activity of neutrophils was significantly enhanced and continued for at least 2 hr by stimulation with OK-432, and its activity was shown to be accumulated at the site where a neutrophil attached with HCC-M. The intensity of dichlorofluorescein fluorescence in HCC-M rapidly increased after adding stimulated neutrophils, and their reaction was significantly attenuated by superoxide dismutase. The number of non-viable cells was increased as the dichlorofluorescein fluorescence increase. It is suggested that oxidative stress may play an important role in neutrophil-mediated tumor-cell damage.