Superoxide (O₂^•−) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of many human diseases, but detection of the O₂^•− radicals in biological systems is limited due to inefficiency of O₂^•− spin trapping and lack of site-specific information. This work studied production of extracellular, intracellular and mitochondrial O₂^•− in neutrophils, cultured endothelial cells and isolated mitochondria using a new set of cationic, anionic and neutral hydroxylamine spin probes with various lipophilicity and cell permeability. Cyclic hydroxylamines rapidly react with O₂^•−, producing stable nitroxides and allowing site-specific O₂^•− detection in intracellular, extracellular and mitochondrial compartments. Negatively charged 1-hydroxy-4-phosphono-oxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine (PP-H) and positively charged 1-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-4-yl-trimethylammonium (CAT1-H) detected only extramitochondrial O₂^•−. Inhibition of EPR signal by SOD2 over-expression showed that mitochondria targeted mitoTEMPO-H detected intramitochondrial O₂^•− both in isolated mitochondria and intact cells. Both 1-hydroxy-3-carboxy-2,2,5,5-tetramethylpyrrolidine (CP-H) and 1-hydroxy-3-methoxycarbonyl-2,2,5,5-tetramethylpyrrolidine (CM-H) detected an increase in cytoplasm O₂^•− stimulated by PMA, but only CM-H and mitoTEMPO-H showed an increase in rotenone-induced mitochondrial O₂^•−. These data show that a new set of hydroxylamine spin probes provide unique information about site-specific production of the O₂^•− radical in extracellular or intracellular compartments, cytoplasm or mitochondria.

Significance: Oxidative stress contributes to numerous pathophysiological conditions such as development of cancer, neurodegenerative, and cardiovascular diseases. A variety of measurements of oxidative stress markers in biological systems have been developed; however, many of these methods are not specific, can produce artifacts, and do not directly detect the free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) that cause oxidative stress. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) is a unique tool that allows direct measurements of free radical species. Cyclic hydroxylamines are useful and convenient molecular probes that readily react with ROS to produce stable nitroxide radicals, which can be quantitatively measured by EPR. In this work, we critically review recent applications of various cyclic hydroxylamine spin probes in biology to study oxidative stress, their advantages, and the shortcomings. Recent Advances: In the past decade, a number of new cyclic hydroxylamine spin probes have been developed and their successful application for ROS measurement using EPR has been published. These new state-of-the-art methods provide improved selectivity and sensitivity for in vitro and in vivo studies. Critical Issues: Although cyclic hydroxylamine spin probes EPR application has been previously described, there has been lack of translation of these new methods into biomedical research, limiting their widespread use. This work summarizes “best practice” in applications of cyclic hydroxylamine spin probes to assist with EPR studies of oxidative stress. Future Directions: Additional studies to advance hydroxylamine spin probes from the “basic science” to biomedical applications are needed and could lead to better understanding of pathological conditions associated with oxidative stress. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 28, 1433–1443.

It has been previously suggested that overexpression of mitochondrial superoxide dismutase (SOD) attenuates cancer development; however, the exact mechanism remains unclear. In this work, we have studied the direct effect of the mitochondria-targeted superoxide scavenger, (2-(2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-oxyl-4-ylamino)-2-oxoethyl)triphenylphosphonium chloride (mitoTEMPO), on B16-F0 mouse melanoma cells and tumor growth in a nude mouse model of human melanoma. We show that scavenging of mitochondrial superoxide inhibited cell growth, reduced viability, and induced apoptosis in melanoma cells, but did not affect nonmalignant skin fibroblasts. Diminished mitochondrial superoxide inhibited redox-dependent Akt, restored activity of mitochondrial pyruvate dehydrogenase, and reduced HIF1-α and lactate dehydrogenase expression in cancer cells. Suppression of glycolysis in mitoTEMPO-treated melanoma cells resulted in a significant drop of cellular adenosine-5'-triphosphate and induced cell death. In vivo mitoTEMPO treatment effectively suppressed growth of established tumor in the mouse model of human melanoma. Therefore, our data lead to the hypothesis that scavenging of mitochondrial superoxide selectively inhibits redox-sensitive survival and metabolic pathways, resulting in cancer cell death. In contrast to existing anticancer therapies, inhibition of mitochondrial superoxide may represent a novel specific anticancer treatment with reduced cytotoxic side effects.

Approach for in vivo real‐time assessment of tumor tissue extracellular pH (pH_e), redox, and intracellular glutathione based on L‐band EPR spectroscopy using dual function pH and redox nitroxide probe and disulfide nitroxide biradical, is described. These parameters were monitored in PyMT mice bearing breast cancer tumors during treatment with granulocyte macrophage colony‐stimulating factor. It was observed that tumor pH_e is about 0.4 pH units lower than that in normal mammary gland tissue. Treatment with granulocyte macrophage colony‐stimulating factor decreased the value of pH_e by 0.3 units compared with PBS control treatment. Tumor tissue reducing capacity and intracellular glutathione were elevated compared with normal mammary gland tissue. Granulocyte macrophage colony‐stimulating factor treatment resulted in a decrease of the tumor tissue reducing capacity and intracellular glutathione content. In addition to spectroscopic studies, pH_e mapping was performed using recently proposed variable frequency proton–electron double‐resonance imaging. The pH mapping superimposed with MRI image supports probe localization in mammary gland/tumor tissue, shows high heterogeneity of tumor tissue pH_e and a difference of about 0.4 pH units between average pH_e values in tumor and normal mammary gland. In summary, the developed multifunctional approach allows for in vivo, noninvasive pH_e, extracellular redox, and intracellular glutathione content monitoring during investigation of various therapeutic strategies for solid tumors. Magn Reson Med, 2011.

The synthesis of 2,2,5,5-tetraethylimidazole nitroxides from 3-ethylpent-2-ene is described. The newly synthesized nitroxides, namely 4-methyl-2,2,5,5-tetraethyl-2,5-dihydro-1H-imidazol-1-yloxy (1), 3,4-dimethyl-2,2,5,5-tetraethylperhydroimidazol-1-yloxy (2) and 2,2,5,5-tetraethyl-4-pyrrolidin-1-yl-2,5-dihydro-1H-imidazol-1-oxyl (3), were found to be pH sensitive spin probes, with pK values of 1.2, 4.95 and 7.4, respectively. The most important finding was the fact that these new nitroxides were 20–30 times more stable in the presence of ascorbate and had significantly longer halflifes in rat blood as compared to 2,2,5,5-tetramethyl analogs. The latter observation provides a unique advantage for the application of tetraethyl substituted imidazole nitroxides as functional EPR probes.