Detection of triclosan using 2-domain hemoglobin promoter of Daphnia magna.

Triclosan has been widely used as an antimicrobial agent. However, triclosan was found to cause toxicity, including muscle contraction disturbances, carcinogenesis, and endocrine disorders. In addition, it was found to affect central nervous system function adversely and even have ototoxic effects. Conventional methods for detecting such triclosan can be performed easily. However, the conventional detection methods are inadequate in precisely reflecting the impact of toxic substances on stressed organisms. Therefore, a test model for the toxic environment at the molecular level through the organism is needed. From that point of view, Daphnia magna is being used as a ubiquitous model. D. magna has the advantages of easy cultivation, a short lifespan and high reproductive capacity, and high sensitivity to chemicals. Therefore, the protein expression pattern of D. magna that appear in response to chemicals can be utilized as biomarkers for detecting specific chemicals. In this study, we characterized the proteomic response of D. magna following triclosan exposure via two-dimensional (2D) gel electrophoresis. As a result, we confirmed that triclosan exposure completely suppressed D. magna 2-domain hemoglobin protein and evaluated this protein as a biomarker for triclosan detection. We constructed the HeLa cells in which the GFP gene was controlled by D. magna 2-domain hemoglobin promoter, which under normal conditions, expressed GFP, but upon triclosan exposure, suppressed GFP expression. Consequently, we consider that the HeLa cells containing the pBABE-HBF3-GFP plasmid developed in this study can be used as novel biomarkers for triclosan detection.

Toxicity detection using lysosomal enzymes, glycoamylase and thioredoxin fused with fluorescent protein in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the simplest and a favorite eukaryotic system that contains lysosome and thus, is a suitable organism for monitoring some toxic effects in environmental pollution. In this study, S. cerevisiae was transformed with two recombinant plasmids. Sporulation-specific glycoamylase (SGA1), which was upregulated in response to arsenic, was fused with the blue fluorescent protein (BFP) for the construction of an oxidative stress-causing chemicals sensor. Additionally, thioredoxin (TRX2), a protein overexpressed exclusively under tetracycline's influence, fused with the cyan fluorescent protein (CFP) to create a detector for this kind of chemical. In summary, we developed two recombinant S. cerevisiae that facilitate the detection of both kinds of toxic chemicals, specifically visualized by different color indicators.