Distribution of 65Zn in mice with melanomas and in the subcellular fractions of melanomas.
Borovanský J., Hearn PR., Bleehen SS., Russell RG.
The tissue distribution of injected 65Zn into mice with Harding--Passey or B-16 melanomas was studied. Both types of melanoma took up remarkably large amounts of 65Zn (harding--Passey 17.4%; and B-16 almost 26.0% of the 65Zn dose administered). In the case of the B-16 melanoma, the tumor was the dominant site of incorporation even in terms of specific activity. On a subcellular level, melanosomes isolated by gradient ultracentrifugation were shown to be sites of preferred deposition of 65Zn. The uptake of 65Zn by melanomas and its specific binding by melanomes suggests that this isotope might be useful in detecting melanomas.