Demonstration of the intracellular accumulation of intermediary fluorescent metabolites of various polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by resolution of the fluorescence spectra of isolated living cells

Using microspectrofluorimetry, we have studied some spectral modifications induced by the accumulation of fluorescent metabolites from some PAH in single living cells (3T3 and RTG2 fibroblasts). Whatever the parent compound under study, no spectral deformation has been detected in the 3T3 cells. On the contrary, the characteristic fluorescence spectra were strongly modified in RTG2 cells when the parent compound was either B(a)P or CPAP. The B(a)P metabolites have been identified as 3-OH-B(a)P and 9-OH-B(a)P.