The DAB-Mn++ cytochemical method revisited: validation of specificity for superoxide.

We wished to assess whether the previously developed 3,3'-diaminobenzidine (DAB)-Mn++ cytochemical method, purportedly specific for superoxide localization, is detecting superoxide O2.- and/or the superoxide product, O2(1 delta g). We show here that polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) produce O2(1 delta g) extracellularly in response to non-phagocytic stimuli and that this production is inhibited by addition of superoxide dismutase, an enzyme typically used to demonstrate that a reaction is mediated by O2.-. Because O2(1 delta g) is highly reactive and can be generated from O2.-, the reactivity of a pure chemical source of O2(1 delta g) with the cytochemical probe DAB was examined in the presence and absence of Mn++. Reactions between DAB and O2(1 delta g), thermally released from 1,4-dimethyl-napthalene-1,4-endoperoxide (DNE), indicated that O2(1 delta g) directly reacted with DAB, forming an insoluble DAB polymer, and that this reaction was increased by the presence of Mn++. The direct reaction of O2(1 delta g) with DAB was confirmed using near-IR emission spectroscopy. The near-IR emission spectrum of DNE as it was warmed showed the characteristic energy emission peak of O2(1 delta g) and the intensity of this peak was reduced by the addition of DAB; kq = 1.7 x 10(8) M-1 sec-1. The requirement of Mn++ for oxidation of DAB by O2.- was reconfirmed using potassium superoxide as a pure chemical source of O2.-. In cell studies, however, DAB deposits were not observed in PMNs stimulated under conditions that lead to O2(1 delta g) production [e.g., 0.040 or 0.162 microM 4B-phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA)], regardless of whether Mn++ was present in the cytochemical medium. Nor were DAB deposits found in cells stimulated with PMA in the absence of Mn++ or in unstimulated PMNs. Only cells incubated in cytochemical medium containing Mn++ and stimulated to produce large amounts of O2.- (e.g., 3.24 microM PMA) contained DAB deposits. In summary, the DAB-Mn++ cytochemical method remains an excellent method for localizing the production sites of O2.-, since the concentration of O2(1 delta g) within vesicles of stimulated cells is too low to directly oxidize DAB to an electron-dense deposit.