We used an intracellular zinc-specific fluomphore, Zinquin, in conjunction with fluorescence video image analysis, to reveal labile zinc in panaeatic islet cells, which concentrate this metal for use in synthesis, storage, and secretion of insulia. 2hquin vividly demonstrated zinc in the islet cell secip tory granules, which formed a brightly labeled crescent in the cytoplasm between one side ofthe nudeus and the plasma membrane. Lower but still appreciable amounts of zinc were detected in the remaining cytoplasm, but there was little labeling in the nudeus. Fluorescence intensity varied among islet cells, suggesting Werences in zinc Content. Their average fluorescence intensity greatly surpassed that of the surrounding pancreatic acinar cells in frozen seaions of pan-

Zinquin [ethyl (2-methyl-8-p-toluenesulphonamido-6-quinolyloxy)acetate], a new intracellular zinc fluorophore, was used to reveal and to measure Zn in cultured rat hepatocytes before and after metallothionein (MT) induction. Hepatocytes labelled with an intense extranuclear fluorescence. Culture with combinations of Zn, dexamethasone and interleukin-6, increased intracellular MT by 24-fold, Zn 3-fold, and Zinquin fluorescence by approx. 2-fold above control values. Zinquin fluorescence correlated in descending order with the total cellular Zn (r = 0.747), exchangeable Zn (r = 0.735), soluble cytosolic Zn (r = 0.669) and MT (r = 0.666). When Zinquin was incubated with a cytosolic fraction of liver proteins before Sephadex G-75 column chromatography, it fluoresced with free, MT-incorporated and protein-bound Zn. Although only a slight attenuation of fluorescence was seen with high-molecular-mass protein-bound Zn, MT was degraded by 60% in the presence of Zinquin. The undegraded Zn-MT fluoresced at about 20% of the expected intensity. Although Zinquin fluoresces with all cytosolic Zn, caution is required when comparisons are made between samples with different concentrations of MT. This limitation was demonstrated by staining liver slices from adjuvant-treated rats where MT was increased 24-fold, intracellular Zn by 77%, but Zinquin fluorescence by only 19% above controls. Nevertheless, Zinquin should prove to be a useful tool for studying the distribution of Zn in living cells.

We have previously shown that complement factor 5a (C5a) plays a role in the pathogenesis of 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced colitis in rats by using the selective,

We present absorption and emission spectra of 5,6-dihydroxyindole-2-carboxylic acid (DHICA), a key melanin monomer, which violate mirror symmetry, and propose that this violation is due to convergent excited-state intramolecular proton-transfer photocycles. Dual features in the absorption spectra arise from excitation into the S1 and S2 states of a catecholate anion form of DHICA. Emission arises from the S1 state of its proton-transfer conjugate following conversion via dual adiabatic and nonadiabatic reaction paths. In support of our postulated mechanism, we offer results from ab initio equation-of-motion coupled cluster (EOM-CCSD) and multistate multireference second-order perturbation theory (MS-MRPT2) calculations. Melanin pigments display an extremely broad, monotonically decreasing absorbance indicative of a dense, coupled manifold of excited states with varying localization character. Our results raise the possibility that intramonomer proton transfer may function as an energy dissipation mechanism from high-lying photoexcited states of the macromolecule.

The syntheses of Zinquin ester [ethyl [2-methyl-8-(p- tolylsulfonylamino )-6-quinolyloxy]acetate] and the corresponding acid, both of which are zinc(II)-specific fluorophores , are described. 6-Methoxy-2-methyl-8-(p- tolylsulfonylamino ) quinoline (2) can be demethylated , with boron tribromide, to form either the expected phenol or a mixture of the phenol and the corresponding 5-bromo derivative depending upon the reaction conditions. These compounds react with ethyl bromoacetate to give the corresponding esters, as well as the 5-ethoxycarbonyl derivative formed by electrophilic substitution. Halogenation of the sulfonamide (2) occurs readily at the 5-position. The 5-iodo product undergoes a Heck coupling with ethyl acrylate . The crystal structures of ethyl [5-ethoxycarbonylmethyl-2-methyl-8-(p- tolylsulfonylamino )-6-quinolyloxy]acetate and [5-carboxymethyl-2-methyl-8-(p- tolylsulfonylamino )-6-quinolyloxy]acetic acid are described.