The ELF -97 phosphatase substrate provides a sensitive, photostable method for labelling cytological targets.

We compared fluorescent signals obtained with fluorescein conjugates and the ELF-97 (enzyme-labelled fluorescence) phosphatase substrate [2-(5'-chloro-2-phosphoryloxyphenyl)-6-chloro-4(3H)-quinazolinone] in labelling cytological structures requiring high spatial resolution. Enzymatic cleavage of the ELF-97 phosphatase substrate yields an extremely fine precipitate that remains well localized to the site of enzymatic activity. This precipitate fluoresces bright yellow-green, with maximal excitation at approximately 360 nm and maximal emission at approximately approximately 530 nm. The ELF substrate was used with streptavidin-alkaline phosphatase, to fluorescently label site-specific probes bound to their targets, including cell-surface sites, cytoplasmic organelles, nuclear antigens and cytoskeletal networks. All targets were labelled successfully with both the ELF substrate and fluoresceinated probes or protein conjugates. However, the ELF method was frequently more sensitive, with lower background fluorescence, allowing detection of more lysosomes, actin filaments, microtubules and nuclear targets than were visible with corresponding fluoresceinated probes. The ELF substrate was also used with antifluorescein-alkaline phosphatase to amplify fluorescein signals. We found that the ELF signal was in all cases brighter and more photostable than fluorescein signals, permitting shorter film exposures and allowing more time for examining samples. Surprisingly, relative brightness and photostability depended on the target, rather than being a general phenomenon related to the choice of dye alone.

The ELF-97 alkaline phosphatase substrate provides a bright, photostable, fluorescent signal amplification method for FISH.

We used the ELF-97 (Enzyme-Labeled Fluorescence) phosphatase substrate, 2-(5'-chloro-2-phosphoryloxyphenyl)-6-chloro-4(3H)-quinazolinone, with alkaline phosphatase conjugates of streptavidin and appropriate antibodies to amplify signals from biotinylated and haptenylated hybridization probes. The dephosphorylated product, ELF-97 alcohol, is a bright yellow-green fluorescent precipitate optimally excited at approximately 360 nm, with emission centered at approximately 530 nm. This large Stokes shift allows ELF-97 signals to be easily distinguished from sample autofluorescence and signals arising from counterstains or other fluorophores. The ELF-97 precipitate was extremely photostable compared to fluorescein, allowing multiple photographic exposures of samples without significant signal intensity loss. For RNA in situ hybridization, labeling was specific and localized well to targets in cultured cells, tissue sections, and whole-mount zebrafish embryos. ELF-97 signals developed in seconds to minutes and were easily distinguished from pigmented tissues or cells, unlike those obtained using colorimetric substrates. We used the substrate with singly biotinylated short oligonucleotides to detect actin mRNA in MDCK cells and actin and beta-galactosidase mRNA in LacZ+ mouse fibroblasts. We also used a biotinylated cDNA, complementary to the mRNA encoded by the constant region of the T-cell receptor beta-chain, to specifically identify T-cells in mouse lymph node tissue sections. With digoxigenin-labeled probes, we detected several developmentally expressed mRNAs in whole-mount zebrafish embryos. Hybridization to centromere repeat regions in human metaphase and interphase chromosomes was also detected; ELF-97 signals were manyfold brighter than signals obtained with fluorescein conjugates. Finally, Southern blot hybridization using singly labeled oligonucleotide probes yielded a sensitivity similar to that obtained with radioactivity.

Fluorescence-based signal amplification technology.

The ELF alkaline phosphate substrate can be used to fluorescently label a wide variety of biological targets. This substrate yields a bright, photostable yellow-green fluorescent precipitate at the site of enzymatic activity. ELF labeling can be as much as 40 times as bright and hundreds of times as photostable as labeling with conventional fluorophores and yields signals capable of very fine submicroscopic resolution. Signal development is also extremely rapid, making the signal amplification technology well suited for applications such as RNA in situ hybridization.

Simultaneous visualization of G- and F-actin in endothelial cells.

We developed site-specific fluorescent probes that permit simultaneous microscopic observation of G- and F-actin in bovine endothelial cells. G-actin distribution was visualized with fluorescein-deoxyribonuclease I (DNAse I). F-actin was labeled with phalloidin conjugated to the new long-wavelength fluorophore BODIPY 581/591 (581-nm excitation, 591-nm emission), which is spectrally similar to Texas Red. The G-actin appeared as pervasive green fluorescence that was more intense in the nuclear region, where cell thickness is greater and stress fibers are less frequent. In addition, we observed a punctate fluorescein pattern around the nuclei and in other parts of the cells, suggesting that some G-actin is localized to small discrete sites. F-actin was observed as red fluorescent filaments. Unlabeled DNAse I effectively prevented staining of G-actin by the fluorescent DNAse I conjugates. The specificity of DNAse I for G-actin was confirmed by the presence of a single labeled band with molecular weight corresponding to actin in a Western blot of total cytoplasmic endothelial proteins reacted with biotin-DNAse I-streptavidin-alkaline phosphatase. Anti-actin antibody, which associates with both G- and F-actin, in conjunction with fluorescent secondary antibody produced a pattern similar to that obtained by simultaneous visualization with fluorescein-DNAse I and BODIPY 581/591- or rhodamine-phalloidin.

A novel fluorogenic substrate for detecting alkaline phosphatase activity in situ.

We describe here the in situ detection of alkaline phosphatase (APase) activity with a new fluorogenic substrate, 2-(5'-chloro-2'-phosphoryloxyphenyl)-6-chloro-4-(3H)-quinazolinone (CPPCQ). CPPCQ is very soluble and colorless. APase converts it into a rapidly precipitating product, whose strong fluorescence marks the sites of APase activity. The detected APase was either a probing enzyme anchored to epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptors of fixed human epidermoid carcinoma cell line (A431) by biotinylated EGF and streptavidin-APase conjugates or an endogenous marker existing in a fixed canine kidney cell line (MDCK). With CPPCQ staining, the EGF receptors and the endogenous APase were both visualized by fluorescence microscopy as contrasting, photostable, and well-resolved fluorescent stains. The EGF receptor staining was specific since it could be blocked by excessive unlabeled EGF. In contrast, fluorescein-labeled EGF failed to specifically stain the EGF receptors under the same fluorescent microscope. The endogenous APase staining with CPPCQ was sensitive to heating, levamisole and L-homoarginine, showing an APase tissue specificity of the liver/bone/kidney type. Therefore, CPPCQ appears to be a novel substrate dye for sensitive fluorescence APase histochemistry.