A Robust Method for the Determination of Cr(VI) and Cr(III) in Industrial Wastewaters by Liquid Chromatography-Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry Combined with a Chelating Pretreatment with 2,6-Pyridinedicarboxylic Acid.

We have developed a method for the determination of Cr(VI) and Cr(III) in industrial wastewater by liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LC-ICP-MS) combined with a chelating pretreatment with 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid (PDCA). The PDCA unified the chemical forms of the Cr(III) species in water samples by the formation of a stable Cr(III)-PDCA complex, which was then separated by a LC column. The chromatographic mobile phase at neutral pH and the column of a mixed-bed of anion and cation exchangers successfully separated not only the chromium species without any redox conversion, but also chloride, which interfered with ICP-MS detection. The method detection limits measured at m/z 53 were 0.66 µg of Cr L-1 for Cr(III) and 0.74 µg L-1 for Cr(VI) with a sample injection volume of 20 µL under a no gas mode. The recoveries of spiked Cr(VI) at 50 and 500 g L-1 into the fifteen kinds of industrial wastewater samples were satisfactory (>90%). The proposed method for the determination of Cr(VI) was also validated by comparing with a colorimetric method using 1,5-diphenylcarbazide prescribed by the ISO 11083 and the JIS K0102.

A Simple and Robust Method for Determination of Alkylmercury in Seawater and Industrial Wastewater by Phenylation Pretreatment Combined with GC-MS.

For determination of methylmercury (MeHg) and ethylmercury (EtHg) in seawater and industrial wastewater, a simple and robust analytical method was developed based on phenylation and solvent extraction followed by GC-MS measurement. Alkylmercury compounds were directly phenylated with sodium tetraphenylborate in water and extracted into toluene. The method detection limits obtained for MeHg and EtHg in pure water were 53.3 and 33.5 ng Hg L-1, respectively, which are almost 10 times lower than the environmental quality standards for water pollution in Japan (EQSJ): 0.5 µg Hg L-1. The recoveries of alkylmercury compounds from seawater and four kinds of industrial wastewater except for EtHg from treated wastewater of an optic lens factory were satisfactory (>90%) at 1- or 4-fold concentrations of the EQSJ. Contrarily, the low recovery of EtHg from the treated wastewater (75.4 ± 4.7%) was found to be caused by the rapid decomposition of EtHg into inorganic mercury.

Relation of dietary inorganic arsenic exposure and urinary inorganic arsenic metabolites excretion in Japanese subjects.

Inorganic arsenic (InAs) is a ubiquitous metalloid that has been shown to exert multiple adverse health outcomes. Urinary InAs and its metabolite concentration has been used as a biomarker of arsenic (As) exposure in some epidemiological studies, however, quantitative relationship between daily InAs exposure and urinary InAs metabolites concentration has not been well characterized. We collected a set of 24-h duplicated diet and spot urine sample of the next morning of diet sampling from 20 male and 19 female subjects in Japan from August 2011 to October 2012. Concentrations of As species in duplicated diet and urine samples were determined by using liquid chromatography-ICP mass spectrometry with a hydride generation system. Sum of the concentrations of urinary InAs and methylarsonic acid (MMA) was used as a measure of InAs exposure. Daily dietary InAs exposure was estimated to be 0.087 µg kg-1 day-1 (Geometric mean, GM), and GM of urinary InAs+MMA concentrations was 3.5 ng mL-1. Analysis of covariance did not find gender-difference in regression coefficients as significant (P > 0.05). Regression equation Log 10 [urinary InAs+MMA concentration] = 0.570× Log 10 [dietary InAs exposure level per body weight] + 1.15 was obtained for whole data set. This equation would be valuable in converting urinary InAs concentration to daily InAs exposure, which will be important information in risk assessment.

Single-Chain Probes for Illuminating Androgenicity of Chemicals.

The present protocol introduces a single-chain probe carrying a functional peptide in the N-terminal domain of the androgen receptor (AR NTD) for illuminating androgenicity of ligands. In the single-chain probe, a functional peptide in the AR NTD was genetically fused to the ligand-binding domain of AR (AR LBD) via a flexible linker, and then sandwiched between the N- and C-terminal fragments of split-firefly luciferase (FLuc) dissected at D415. This single-chain probe exerts (1) a high signal-to-background ratio and (2) sensitive discrimination between agonists and antagonists, where the dimerization of AR LBD is not involved. The present protocol guides a fundamental methodology on how to discriminate weak protein-protein (peptide) binding, and provides a new insight into the intramolecular folding inside monomeric AR.

Circular Permutation Probes for Illuminating Phosphorylation of Estrogen Receptor.

The present protocol demonstrates a new strategy for imaging ligand-triggered protein phosphorylation using circularly permutated luciferases (cpLuc): (1) a luciferase is first fragmented into two segments for creating new N- and C-terminal ends in the hydrophilic region, (2) the original N- and C-terminal ends are circularly permutated and linked via a GS linker, whereas the new ends made by fragmentation are correspondingly linked with two proteins of interest. When the new ends of the cpLuc are linked with the ligand-binding domain of estrogen receptor (ER LBD) and Src homology two domain of Src (SH2), the estrogen can trigger phosphorylation of the ER LBD and consequent intramolecular ER LBD-SH2 binding. This interaction triggers an approximation of the adjacent fragments of split-cpLuc recovering the enzyme activity. This probe design greatly improves signal-to-noise (S/N) ratios upon tracing weak protein-protein interactions (PPIs) in mammalian cells.

An Evaluation of Sensor Performance for Harmful Compounds by Using Photo-Induced Electron Transfer from Photosynthetic Membranes to Electrodes.

Rapid, simple, and low-cost screening procedures are necessary for the detection of harmful compounds in the effluent that flows out of point sources such as industrial outfall. The present study investigated the effects on a novel sensor of harmful compounds such as KCN, phenol, and herbicides such as 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea (DCMU), 2-chloro-4-ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-1,3,5-triazine (atrazine), and 2-N-tert-butyl-4-N-ethyl-6-methylsulfanyl-1,3,5-triazine-2,4-diamine (terbutryn). The sensor employed an electrode system that incorporated the photocurrent of intra-cytoplasmic membranes (so-called chromatophores) prepared from photosynthetic bacteria and linked using carbon paste electrodes. The amperometric curve (photocurrent-time curve) of photo-induced electron transfer from chromatophores of the purple photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides to the electrode via an exogenous electron acceptor was composed of two characteristic phases: an abrupt increase in current immediately after illumination (I0), and constant current over time (Ic). Compared with other redox compounds, 2,5-dichloro-1,4-benzoquinone (DCBQ) was the most useful exogenous electron acceptor in this system. Photo-reduction of DCBQ exhibited Michaelis-Menten-like kinetics, and reduction rates were dependent on the amount of DCBQ and the photon flux intensity. The Ic decreased in the presence of KCN at concentrations over 0.05 µM (=µmol·dm(-3)). The I0 decreased following the addition of phenol at concentrations over 20 µM. The Ic was affected by terbutryn at concentrations over 10 µM. In contrast, DCMU and atrazine had no effect on either I0 or Ic. The utility of this electrode system for the detection of harmful compounds is discussed.

Long-term retention of pristine multi-walled carbon nanotubes in rat lungs after intratracheal instillation.

As a result of the growing potential industrial and medical applications of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), people working in or residing near facilities that manufacture them may be exposed to airborne MWCNTs in the future. Because of concerns regarding their toxicity, quantitative data on the long-term clearance of pristine MWCNTs from the lungs are required. We administered pristine MWCNTs well dispersed in 0.5 mg ml(-1) Triton-X solution to rats at doses of 0.20 or 0.55 mg via intratracheal instillation and investigated clearance over a 12-month observation period. The pristine MWCNTs pulmonary burden was determined 1, 3, 7, 28, 91, 175 and 364 days after instillation using a method involving combustive oxidation and infrared analysis, combined with acid digestion and heat pretreatment. As 0.15- and 0.38-mg MWCNTs were detected 1 day after administration of 0.20 and 0.55 mg MWCNTs, respectively, approximately 30% of administrated MWCNTs may have been cleared by bronchial ciliary motion within 24 h of administration. After that, the pulmonary MWCNT burden did not decrease significantly over time for up to 364 days after instillation, suggesting that MWCNTs were not readily cleared from the lung. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that alveolar macrophages internalized the MWCNTs and retained in the lung for at least 364 days after instillation. MWCNTs were not detected in the liver or brain within the 364-day study period (<0.04 mg per liver, < 0.006 mg per brain).

Inorganic arsenic in the Japanese diet: daily intake and source.

The concentrations of arsenic (As) species in 19 food composites prepared from 159 food items purchased in Shizuoka city, Japan, were determined (1) to estimate total daily intake of inorganic As (InAs) and some organic As species and (2) to determine food contributing to total daily InAs intake. As analysis included extraction of As species with a synthetic gastric juice (0.07 mol/L HCl + 0.01 % pepsin) from food composite and high-performance liquid chromatography-high efficiency photo-oxidation-hydride generation-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. InAs was detected in 9 of 19 food composites at a concentration of 0.423-450 ng As/g fresh-weight. Daily intake of InAs from cereals was greatest (13 µg/person/day) followed by algae (5.7 µg/person/day), and the intake from the two categories constituted 90 % of the total daily InAs intake of adults (21 µg/person/day on a bioaccessible-fraction basis and 24 µg/person/day on a content basis). Analysis of individual food items showed that rice and hijiki contributed virtually 100 % of InAs from cereals and algae, respectively. The present survey indicated that InAs from rice and hijiki consumption contributed to total daily InAs intake and consequently to significant cancer risk of the general Japanese population. Daily intake of some organic forms of As and their contributing food categories was also estimated.

Creation of artificial luciferases for bioassays.

The present study demonstrates the creation of artificial luciferases (ALuc) for bioassays, inspired by a sequence alignment of copepod luciferases. Extraction of the consensus amino acids from the alignment enabled us to generate a series of ALucs with unique optical properties and sequential identities that are clearly different from those of any existing copepod luciferase. For example, some ALucs exhibited heat stability, dramatically prolonged optical intensities, broad full width at half-maximum, and strong optical intensities. The practical suitability of the luciferases as an optical readout was examined in diverse bioassays, including mammalian two-hybrid assays, live cell imaging, single-chain probes, bioluminescent capsules, and bioluminescent antibodies. We further determine the physical properties of ALucs through bioinformatic analysis and finally discuss detailed issues on the unique properties of ALucs. The present study shows how to create the artificial enzymes with excellent optical properties for bioassays and encourages researchers to fabricate their own unique artificial enzymes with designed properties and functionalities.

Online TOC analysis based on reagent-free oxidation of dissolved organic matter using a mercury lamp-pass-through photoreactor.

The reagent-free mineralization of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in river water was achieved within 1 min using a lamp-pass-through photoreactor containing a narrow reaction tube (2 mm i.d.) passing through a 40 W mercury lamp. The structure efficiently irradiated the sample solution in the tube with vacuum ultraviolet (VUV; 185 nm) light from the lamp, which rapidly decomposed the DOM with hydroxyl radicals generated efficiently from the water and oxygen that are naturally present in the solution. The photoreactor was also applicable to oxidizing reagent-free online toatal organic carbon (TOC) analysis of DOM in river-water samples using a non-dispersive infrared radiation detector after acidification of the sample using 20 mmol L(-1) phosphoric acid. The detection limit for phthalate at the injection of 390 µL was 6.2 µg of carbon L(-1). The repeatability, as expressed by the relative standard deviation, was 2.5% for thrice-repeated analyses of a river sample with 1.85 mg of carbon L(-1).

Effect of Mg or Ag addition on the evaporation field of Al.

It is known that the distribution of the charge-states as well as the evaporation field shift to higher values as the specimen temperature is decreased at a constant rate of evaporation. This study has explored the effect of Mg or Ag addition on the evaporation field of Al in terms of the charge state distribution of the field evaporated Al ions. The fractional abundance of Al(2+) ions with respect to the total Al ions in Al-Mg alloy is lower than that in pure Al, whereas it shows higher level in the Al-Ag alloy at lower temperatures. The temperature dependence of the fractional abundance of Al(2+) ions has been also confirmed, suggesting that Al atoms in the Al-Mg alloy need lower evaporation field, while higher field is necessary to evaporate Al atoms in the Al-Ag alloy, compared with pure Al. This tendency is in agreement with that of the evaporation fields estimated theoretically by means of measurements of the work function and calculations of the binding energy of the pure Al, Al-Mg and Al-Ag alloys.

Influence of speciation on the response from selenium to UV-photochemical vapor generation.

By exposure to appropriate UV intensities, rapid and quantitative oxidation/reduction of inorganic selenite, selenate and several organoselenium compounds representative of those of biochemical/metabolic interest, including selenomethionine, selenobetaine, L-selenocystine, selenomethylselenocysteine, γ-glutamyl-seleno-methylselenocysteine and selenocystamine, is achieved. In the presence of acetic acid, quantitative conversion to volatile SeH(2) and SeCO occurs using a flow-through system comprising a highly efficient 40 W UV lamp for oxidation in tandem with a lower power 8 W UV photocatalytic reactor utilizing a thin-film coating of titania. The volatile reduced species are detected by atomic absorption spectrometry using a heated quartz tube atomizer. Direct photochemical conversion of selenite, selenomethionine, L-selenocystine, γ-glutamyl-Se-methylselenocysteine and selenocystamine occurs in the presence of 5% acetic acid, following exposure to an 8 W UV field, to yield volatile detectable species, whereas selenobetaine and selenate are unresponsive unless the latter is first subjected to oxidation by exposure to a highly efficient 40 W UV lamp and the selenate reduced in the presence of titania.

Daily intake of inorganic arsenic and some organic arsenic species of Japanese subjects.

The daily dietary intake of inorganic arsenic (InAs) and some of organic arsenic (OrAs) species of Japanese subjects were estimated by determining the concentrations of As species in two different sets of total diet sample: duplicated diet samples collected from 25 subjects in Japan and a certified reference material with total diet matrix (NIES CRM No. 27 Typical Japanese Diet, TJD). The concentration of InAs and OrAs in diet samples were determined by LC-ICP-MS using a photo-oxidation and hydride generation system. The median intake of InAs for the 25 subjects was 3.8 µg day(-1) (2.0-57 µg day(-1)) and intake of 27 µg day(-1) was estimated from TJD. The median intake of MMA, DMA and TMAsO were <0.18, 1.1 and <0.053 µg day(-1) for the 25 subjects and that of MMA, DMA, AB and TMAsO was estimated to be 3.9, 11, 140 and 5.9 µg day(-1), respectively, based on TJD analysis. On the basis of InAs intakes estimated and the oral slope factor of the US EPA and Health Canada, excess cancer risk was estimated to exceed acceptable level. Cancer risk posed by the dietary InAs of the general Japanese may not be negligible.

Pulmonary toxicity of well-dispersed multi-wall carbon nanotubes following inhalation and intratracheal instillation.

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), dispersed in suspensions consisting mainly of individual tubes, were used for intratracheal instillation and inhalation studies. Rats intratracheally received a dose of 0.2 mg, or 1 mg of MWCNTs and were sacrificed from 3 days to 6 months. MWCNTs induced a pulmonary inflammation, as evidenced by a transient neutrophil response in the low-dose groups, and presence of small granulomatous lesion and persistent neutrophil infiltration in the high-dose groups. In the inhalation study, rats were exposed to 0.37 mg/m(3) aerosols of well-dispersed MWCNTs (>70% of MWCNTs were individual fibers) for 4 weeks, and were sacrificed at 3 days, 1 month, and 3 months after the end of exposure. The inhalation exposures delivered less amounts of MWCNTs into the lungs, and therefore less pulmonary inflammation responses was observed, as compared to intratracheal instillation. The results of our study show that well-dispersed MWCNT can produce pulmonary lesions, including inflammation.

Superluminescent variants of marine luciferases for bioassays.

In this study, a rational synthesis of superluminescent variants from marine luciferases with prolonged bioluminescence has been demonstrated. A putative active site of a model marine luciferase, Gaussia princeps Luciferase (GLuc), was assigned and modified by a site-directed mutagenesis. The potent variants were found to generate up to 10 times stronger bioluminescence, emitting red shifts of up to 33 nm with natural coelenterazine than native GLuc, rendering an efficient optical signature in bioassays. The advantageous properties were demonstrated with mammalian two-hybrid assays, single-chain probes, and metastases of murine B16 melanoma in BALB/c nude mice. The unique ideas for engineering GLuc are proved to be valid even for other marine luciferases.

Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, arsenic and environmental tobacco smoke, nutrient intake, and oxidative stress in Japanese preschool children.

The association between oxidative stress and exposure to environmental chemicals was assessed in a group of Japanese preschool children. The concentrations of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP), inorganic arsenic (iAs) and monomethylarsonic acid (MMA), and cotinine in spot urine samples, collected from 134 children (3-6 yrs) from a kindergarten in Kanagawa, Japan, were measured as biomarkers of oxidative stress or exposure to environmental chemicals. For 76 subjects of the 134, intakes of anti-oxidant nutrients (vitamins A, C, and E, manganese, copper, zinc and selenium (Se)) were estimated from a food consumption survey carried out 2-4 weeks after urine sampling and by urine analysis (Se). The median (min-max) creatinine-corrected concentrations of urinary biomarkers were 4.45 (1.98-12.3), 0.127 (0.04-2.41), 4.78 (1.18-12.7), and 0.62 (<0.6-19.0) µg/g cre for 8-OHdG, 1-OHP, iAs+MMA, and cotinine, respectively. Multiple regression analysis was carried out using 8-OHdG concentration as a dependent variable and urinary biomarkers of exposure and Se intake, intakes of vitamins and biological attributes of the subjects as independent variables. To explain 8-OHdG concentrations, intake of vitamin A and age were significant variables with negative coefficients, while 1-OHP concentration had a positive coefficient. These results indicated that oxidative stress of children is affected by chemical exposure at environmental levels, by nutrient intake and by physiological factors in a complex manner. On the other hand, unstable statistical results due to sub-grouping of subject, based on the availability of food consumption data, were found: the present results should further be validated by future studies with suitable research design.

A determination method of pristine multiwall carbon nanotubes in rat lungs after intratracheal instillation exposure by combustive oxidation-nondispersive infrared analysis.

This paper describes a method for determination of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in rat lungs after intratracheal instillation exposure. The MWCNTs were quantitatively decomposed to CO(2) by combustive oxidation and were then determined by non-dispersive infrared analysis. Samples were pretreated by acid digestion, muffle ashing and in situ preheating to remove interferences due to coexisting biological carbon from the lung tissue sample, while preserving the MWCNTs as in its their original form. The preservation was confirmed by transmission electron microscopic observation of the pretreated samples of exposed lung tissues and by the fact that the recoveries of MWCNTs spiked to the lung tissues were close to 100%. The detection limit for MWCNTs obtained by the proposed method was 0.30 µg and the repeatability as expressed by the relative standard deviation was 5.6% (n=4). The method was sufficiently sensitive and precise to apply to real samples of rat lung to investigate the in vivo persistence of intratracheally instilled MWCNTs. To our knowledge, this is the first report of this type of sample pretreatment and direct determination of pristine MWCNTs without modification or tagging. Conventional indirect methods use tagging with other compounds or metal impurities in the CNTs for detection, and the detachment of these tags can increase uncertainties in the determination of the CNTs. The tags can also change how the CNTs persist in vivo, which can lead to an incorrect understanding of the persistence of pristine CNTs in vivo.

Clearance kinetics of fullerene C60 nanoparticles from rat lungs after intratracheal C60 instillation and inhalation C60 exposure.

Fullerene (carbon sixty [C(60)]) has potential industrial and medical applications. In the future, people working in or residing near manufacturing facilities may be exposed to C(60). Therefore, quantitative data on long-term C(60) clearance from the lungs are required. To estimate the clearance rate and deposition fraction of C(60) from inhalation exposure, the C(60) burden in the lungs, liver, and brain of rats was determined after intratracheal instillation and inhalation. Male Wistar rats were intratracheally instilled with different concentrations of a C(60) suspension prepared with Tween 80 (geometric mean [GM] of particle diameter based on number, 18-29 nm; geometric standard deviation [GSD] of particle diameter, 1.5; and doses, 100, 200, and 1000 micrograms per body) or exposed to a C(60) aerosol prepared with nebulizer (GM of particle diameter based on number, 96 nm; GSD of particle diameter, 2.0; and exposure level, 120 µg/m(3)). C(60) burden in the lungs, liver, and brain was determined at various time points (1 h to 6 months) by a newly developed sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet absorptiometry combined with extraction and concentration of C(60) from the organs. C(60) clearance was evaluated using a 2-compartment model: fast clearance after deposition on lung surface and slow clearance after retention in the epithelium. The detection limit of our analysis method was 8.9 ng/g tissue. Pulmonary C(60) burden decreased with time and depended on the C(60) concentration administered. The concentration of C(60) in the liver and brain was below the detection limit: 8.9 ng/g tissue. The half-life of intratracheally instilled C(60) was 15-28 days. The deposition mass fraction of inhaled C(60) was 0.14. Mode evaluation revealed that most instilled particles could be eliminated by the fast clearance pathway. This finding is consistent with the transmission electron microscopy finding that many particles were present in alveolar macrophages.

Electrochemical gene sensor arrays prepared using non-contact nanoliter array spotting of gene probes.

A capillary-based pitch-variable array spotter, designed to dispense solutions in nanoliter volumes with high precision and density, was used to immobilize gene probes on a microelectrode array chip. Small volumes of the probe solutions were dispensed onto the microelectrodes, without any physical contact between the capillary ends and the electrode surfaces, to fabricate an electrochemical gene sensor array chip. The fabricated gene sensor array chip showed sequence-selective responses, expressed on a pseudocolor scale, to a target DNA sample. It was demonstrated that this dispensing technique provides integrated sensor array chips by dispensing small volumes of solutions of synthesized functional gene probes onto microelectrode array chips, a process not possible with conventional dispensing techniques.

Determination of the androgenicity of ligands using a single-chain probe carrying androgen receptor N-terminal peptides.

The present study demonstrates a single-molecular bioluminescent probe carrying functional peptides in the N-terminal domain of the androgen receptor (AR NTD) with an improved sensorial property to androgens. The N-terminal peptides in AR were genetically fused to the ligand binding domain of AR (AR LBD) with a flexible linker, and then sandwiched between the N- and C-terminal fragments of split-firefly luciferase (FLuc) dissected at D415. We found that the proline-rich region in AR NTD efficiently interacts with AR LBD and exerts (i) an enhanced signal-to-background ratio and (ii) discrimination between agonists and antagonists with (iii) a 100-times improved sensitivity to androgens, upon comparison with previous references. A deletion mutation to the proline-rich region in AR revealed that this region is critical for the transcriptional activities. The quantum yields of these single-chain probes were estimated to be 37.8 +/- 0.6%. This monomeric AR LBD-peptide binding is necessary, and sufficient for discriminating an agonist and an antagonist, where the dimerization of AR LBD is not involved. The present study guides a fundamental methodology on how to discriminate weak protein-peptide binding, and provides a new insight into the contribution of functional peptides in AR NTD to the initial activation of monomeric AR.