Coelenterazine administration <i>in vivo</i> results in chemiluminescent detection of superoxide anion in a dose-dependent manner that is of pancreatic origin.

<p>(A) Healthy mice were administered 0, 1, 2.5, 5, 7.5 and 10 mg/kg coelenterazine and imaged for chemiluminescence. (B) Quantification of the chemiluminescent signal for each coelenterazine dose (n = 1). (C) The fold change in the abdominal chemiluminescent signal from before to 20 hours following treatment with 600 units of PEG-SOD (SOD) or vehicle control (CON) (n = 3). (D) Tissues collected from a mouse euthanized 3 minutes post-administration of 5 mg/kg native coelenterazine. (E) Tissues from the mouse in D fluorescently imaged with an excitation of 430 nm and emission of 520 nm. (F) Isolated tissues treated with 20 μg of native coelenteraine <i>ex vivo</i>. (G) Quantification of the chemiluminescent signal from each well (n = 3). (Error bars represent the mean ± SEM, and * denotes a significant difference of P < 0.02.) (H) Whole mouse pancreas was excised and incubated in 20 μmol/L coelenterazine, fixed and stained with anti-insulin antibody followed by an Alexa Fluor 750 secondary. (Scale bar represents 400 μm.)