Oxygen Mapping of Melanoma Spheroids using Small Molecule Platinum Probe and Phosphorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy

Solid tumours display varied oxygen levels and this characteristic can be exploited to develop new diagnostic tools to determine and exploit these variations. Oxygen is an efficient quencher of emission of many phosphorescent compounds, thus oxygen concentration could in many cases be derived directly from relative emission intensity and lifetime. In this study, we extend our previous work on phosphorescent, low molecular weight platinum(II) complex as an oxygen sensing probe to study the variation in oxygen concentration in a viable multicellular 3D human tumour model. The data shows one of the first examples of non-invasive, real-time oxygen mapping across a melanoma tumour spheroid using one-photon phosphorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (PLIM) and a small molecule oxygen sensitive probe. These measurements were quantitative and enabled real time oxygen mapping with high spatial resolution. This combination presents as a valuable tool for optical detection of both physiological and pathological oxygen levels in a live tissue mass and we suggest has the potential for broader clinical application.