环境蛋白组学及污染物分子毒性检测技术

环境蛋白组学是蛋白组学与环境科学交叉融合的新兴学科,研究污染环境与蛋白组之间的相互作用规律与检测技术方法.环境蛋白组学的发展,取决于双向凝胶电泳、质谱、蛋白质芯片和生物信息学等技术的完善与应用.综述环境蛋白组学的主流技术,介绍环境蛋白组学技术在污染物分子毒性检测中的应用,探索污染物与蛋白组之间的相互作用机理,是人体与环境健康科技发展的起步过程.     

鲫鱼(Carassius auratus)卵黄蛋白原的ELISA检测

采用Sephadex G-200柱层析从鲫鱼(Carassius auratus)成熟鱼卵中提取卵黄脂磷蛋白并制备抗卵黄脂磷蛋白抗血清.用DEAE-cellulose阴离子交换层析和Sephacryl S-300分子筛凝胶层析相结合的两步层析从经17b-雌二醇诱导的雌鱼血浆中提纯卵黄蛋白原.免疫印迹反应显示卵黄脂磷蛋白和卵黄蛋白原都与抗卵黄脂磷蛋白抗血清有特异的反应.以抗卵黄脂磷蛋白抗血清作为抗体,卵黄蛋白原作为竞争抗原建立了间接竞争法酶联免疫吸附反应(ELISA)方法来检测雄鱼血液中卵黄蛋白原含量.该方法可测的最低浓度为7.8ng/mL,工作范围为0.39~25mg/mL,批内和批间误差分别为6.5%和7.5%.     

Specific antibody for pesticide residue determination produced by antibody-pesticide complex

A new method for specific antibody production was developed using antibody (Ab)-pesticide complex as a unique immunogen. Parathion (PA) was the targeted pesticide, and rabbit polyclonal antibody (Pab) and mouse monoclonal antibody (Mab) were used as carrier proteins. The Ab-PA complexes were generated by conjugating the two antibodies with an excessive dosage of PA. It was shown that the sensitivity of homologous enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using the new antibodies was similar to that using original antibodies. However, the new mouse Pab had not only similar positive recognizing spectrum as the original Mab, but also a significantly improved sensitivity in heterologous ELISA when some recognizable competitors were applied. IC₅₀ value of ELISA based on a combination of the new mouse Pab and hapten 9 was 0.24 ng/mL, which was 445.54 times as that of the homologous ELISA. An Ab-pesticide complex may be a suitable alternative immunogen for producing highly specific antibody to improve the immunoassay sensitivity.     

Determination of dioxin concentrations in fish and seafood samples using a highly sensitive reporter cell line, DR-EcoScreen cells

There is a strong need for the development of relatively rapid and low-cost bioassays for the determination of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dl-PCBs) in environmental and food samples. In this study, we applied a reporter gene assay using DR-EcoScreen cells (DR-cell assay), which is highly sensitive to dioxins, to the determination of PCDD/Fs and dl-PCBs in fish and seafood samples. The PCDD/Fs and dl-PCBs were extracted from homogenated samples (10 g) of 30 fish and shellfish, purified by clean-up procedure using a multilayered silica gel column and an alumina column, and applied to DR-cell assay. Interestingly, the bioanalytical equivalent (BEQ) values obtained from the DR-cell assay [<0.1 ∼ 5.4 pg BEQ g⁻¹ wet weight (ww)] were closely correlated with the toxicity equivalent (TEQ) values from conventional high-resolution gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC-HRMS) analysis (r² = 0.912), and the slope of regression line was 0.913. Therefore, we multiplied the BEQ values from the DR-cell assay by a conversion coefficient (1.095, the reciprocal of 0.913) to approximate the TEQ values from the HRGC-HRMS analysis. Furthermore, we used this DR-cell assay to perform a prescreening test of PCDD/Fs and dl-PCBs in 16 fish and seafood samples purchased from a supermarket, revealing that a sample from the fatty flesh of a bluefin tuna exceeded 8 pg TEQ g⁻¹ ww (the European Union-tolerance limit). Taken together, these results suggest that the DR-cell assay might be applicable as a rapid and low-cost prescreening method to determine dioxin levels in fish and seafood samples.     

The constitutively active Ah receptor (CA-AhR) mouse as a model for dioxin exposure - effects in reproductive organs

The dioxin/aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) mediates most toxic effects of dioxins. In utero/lactational exposure to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) impairs fetal/neonatal development and the developing male reproductive tract are among the most sensitive tissues. TCDD causes antiestrogenic responses in rodent mammary gland and uterus and in human breast cancer cell lines in the presence of estrogen. Also, more recently an estrogen-like effect of TCDD/AhR has been suggested in the absence of estrogen. A transgenic mouse expressing a constitutively active AhR (CA-AhR) was developed as a model mimicking a situation of constant exposure to AhR agonists. Male and female reproductive tissues of CA-AhR mice were characterized for some of the effects commonly seen after dioxin exposure. Sexually mature CA-AhR female mice showed decreased uterus weight, while an uterotrophic assay in immature CA-AhR mice resulted in increased uterus weight. In immature mice, both TCDD-exposure and CA-AhR increased the expression of the estrogen receptor target gene Cathepsin D. When co-treated with 17β-estradiol no increase in Cathepsin D levels occurred in either TCDD-exposed or CA-AhR mice. In sexually mature male CA-AhR mice the weights of testis and ventral prostate were decreased and the epididymal sperm reserve was reduced. The results of the present study are in accordance with previous studies on dioxin-exposed rodents in that an activated AhR (here CA-AhR) leads to antiestrogenic effects in the presence of estrogen, but to estrogenic effects in the absence of estrogen. These results suggest the CA-AhR mouse model as a useful tool for studies of continuous low activity of the AhR from early development, resembling the human exposure situation.     

Genotoxic effect of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre, Brazil, evaluated by Helix aspersa (Müller, 1774)

The purpose of this study was to biomonitor metropolitan areas of Porto Alegre (Brazil) for PAHs associated with atmospheric particles and check their effects on the DNA of the land mollusk Helix aspersa. The sampling sites are located in an urban area with heavy traffic: (i) Canoas, (ii) Sapucaia do Sul, and (iii) FIERGS/Porto Alegre. The samples were collected during a continuous period of 24 hours during 15 days using Stacked Filter Units (SFU) on polycarbonate filters (two separated size fractions: PM_10-2.5 and PM_<2.5). The concentrations of 16 major PAHs were determined according to EPA. Comet assay on H. aspersa hemolymph cells was chosen for genotoxicity evaluation. This evaluation shows that, in general, the smaller PM-size fractions (PM_<2.5) have the highest genotoxicity and contain higher concentrations of extractable organic matter. In addition, associations between chemical characteristics and PM carcinogenicity tend to be stronger for the smaller PM-size fractions.     

微囊藻毒素的酶联免疫法分析影响因素探讨

考察样品与抗微囊藻毒素(MC)-LR的单克隆抗体(单抗)加入间隔时间、温育温度、检测时间、pH、H2O2、Fe2+等不同因素对酶联免疫法(ELISA)测定MC-LR的影响。结果表明:(1)随着样品与单抗加入间隔时间延长,MC-LR测定值逐渐降低。(2)25、37℃下,MC-LR测定值几乎没有差别,测定结果与取用标准样品具有很好的一致性。(3)不同检测时间下,无论是低浓度还是高浓度标准样品,MC-LR测定值均有一定变化,虽然幅度均不大,但仍然建议终止反应后尽快比色。(4)当pH为7～9时,MC-LR测定值变化不大。(5)当H2O2摩尔浓度为0.1、1.0、10.0mmol/L时,均会对ELISA产生干扰。通过水浴去除H2O2后,H2O2初始摩尔浓度分别为0.1、1.0mmol/L时,MC-LR回收率分别达到87%及81%。(6)Fe2+对酶有显著的抑制作用,可通过沉淀过滤的方式消除干扰。     

Trophic transfer of pyrene metabolites and nonextractable fraction from Oligochaete (Lumbriculus variegatus) to juvenile brown trout (Salmo trutta)

Cell lines of Etroplus suratensis established in our laboratory were evaluated for their potential use as screening tools for the ecotoxicological assessment of tannery effluent. The cytotoxic effect of tannery effluent in three cell lines derived from eye, kidney and gill tissue of E. suratensis was assessed using multiple endpoints such as Neutral Red (NR) assay, Coomassie Blue (CB) protein assay and Alamar Blue (AB) assay. Acute toxicity tests on fish were conducted by exposing E. suratensis for 96 h to tannery effluent under static conditions. The toxic effect of tannery effluent on the survival of fish was found to be concentration and time dependent. The tannery effluent at the concentration of 15% caused 100% mortality at 96 h whereas the lower concentration (0.5%) caused 13.33% mortality. The cytotoxicity of tannery effluent was found to be similar in the three cell lines tested, independent of the toxic endpoints employed. EC₅₀ values, the effective concentration of tannery effluent resulting in 50% inhibition of cytotoxicity parameters after 48 h exposure to tannery effluent were calculated for eye, kidney and gill cell lines using NR uptake, AB and cell protein assays. Statistical analysis revealed good correlation with r² = 0.95-0.99 for all combinations between endpoints employed. Linear correlations between each in vitro EC₅₀ and the in vivo LC₅₀ data, were highly significant p < 0.001 with r² = 0.977, 0.968 and 0.906 for AB₅₀, NR₅₀, and CB₅₀, respectively.     

Application of semipermeable membrane device (SPMD) to assess air genotoxicity in an occupational environment

Semipermeable membrane device (SPMD) is a passive sampler that sequesters lipophilic contaminants, mimicking the bioconcentration in the fatty tissue of organisms. This study was designed to assess the use of SPMD and biological tests (Comet assay and Ames test) for air monitoring. For this purpose an occupational environment with expected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) contamination (coke plant) was selected for a case study. The SPMDs were deployed in five occupational contaminated sites and in a control site. The SPMD dialysates were chemically analysed and examined for in vitro DNA-damaging activity in human cells (Jurkat) by Comet assay and for mutagenicity with the Ames test (TA98 strain, w/o S9). Total suspended particulates were also collected and analysed (GC–MS). No biological effect of SPMD extract was revealed in the control site. On the other hand, air samples collected with SPMDs within the coke plant showed variable degrees of genotoxic and mutagenic activity. The highest effects were associated with the highest PAH level recovered in the SPMDs extracts and in particulate samples.Results obtained support the sensitivity of biological tests associated to SPMD sampling for evaluating the health risk of potentially contaminated work environments highlighting the usefulness of SPMDs for environmental air quality monitoring.