Biomonitoring: Integration of biological end-points into chemical
monitoring
M. Seifert, L. Wen, M. Alberti, U. Kausch, and B. Hock
Technische Universitaet Muenchen,Center of Life Sciences
Weihenstephan, Chair of Cell Biology, Alte Akademie12, D-85350 Freising,
Germany
Abstract: Biomonitoring is currently performed at two levels,
assessing exposure to pollutants and effects monitoring by bioassays.
As an example for the first approach, vitellogenin (VTG) in male fish
of Abramis brama as an endpoint for estrogen exposure is discussed.
However, similar changes of VTG or VTG-like proteins in the hemolymph
of mussels could not be detected. Enzyme-linked receptor assays for
monitoring estrogenic effects at the molecular level serve as an example
for the second category. Applications of the enzyme-linked receptor
assay (ELRA) developed in our laboratory are presented. Detection limits
of 0.02 mg/l 17b-estradiol
were recently achieved with the chemiluminescent format. Although effect
monitoring provides information in terms of toxicity equivalents, it
is not possible to relate the signals to specific pollutants and their
concentrations. For this purpose, chemical analysis is required. New
approaches are reported for the direct coupling of bioassays and chemical
analysis. This concept is defined as bioresponse-linked instrumental
analysis. It combines biomolecular recognition, initiating a biological
effect, and chemical analysis. In addition to the classical bioanalytical
approaches, new strategies in genomics and proteomics have been developed.
This may lead to multimarker approaches opening this area to environmental
analytics.
*Report from a SCOPE/IUPAC project: Implication of
Endocrine Active Substances for Human and Wildlife (J. Miyamoto and
J.Burger, editors). Other reports are published in this issue,
pp. 1617-2615.
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