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T-screen and yeast assay for the detection of the thyroid-disrupting activities of cadmium, mercury, and zinc

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Abstract

In the present study, a two-hybrid yeast bioassay and a T-screen were used to screen for the thyroid receptor (TR)-disrupting activity of select metallic compounds (CdCl2, ZnCl2, HgCl2, CuSO4, MnSO4, and MgSO4). The results reveal that none of the tested metallic compounds showed TR-agonistic activity, whereas ZnCl2, HgCl2, and CdCl2 demonstrated TR antagonism. For the yeast assay, the dose–response relationship of these metallic compounds was established, and the concentrations producing 20 % of the maximum effect of ZnCl2, HgCl2, and CdCl2 were 9.1 × 10−5, 3.2 × 10−6, and 1.2 × 10−6 mol/L, respectively. The T-screen also supported the finding that ZnCl2, HgCl2, and CdCl2 decreased the cell proliferation at concentrations ranging from 10−6 to 10−4 mol/L. Furthermore, the thyroid-disrupting activity of metallic compounds in environmental water samples collected from the Guanting Reservoir, Beijing, China was evaluated. Solid-phase extraction was used to separate the organic extracts, and a modified two-hybrid yeast bioassay revealed that the metallic compounds in the water samples could affect thyroid hormone-induced signaling by decreasing the binding of the thyroid hormone. The addition of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (30 mg/L) could eliminate the effects. Thus, the cause(s) of the thyroid toxicity in the water samples appeared to be partly related to the metallic compounds.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41001351), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2012LYB35), and the Major Science and Technology Program for Water Pollution Control and Treatment (2014ZX07201-010).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Engineering Research Center of Groundwater Pollution Control and Remediation, Ministry of Education, College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China

    Jian Li, Dongdong Kong & Shujuan Ren

  2. South China Institute of Environmental Science, Ministry of Environmental Protection, No. 7 West Street, Yuancun, Guangzhou, 510655, China

    Yun Liu

  3. State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P. O. Box 2871, Beijing, 100085, China

    Na Li

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  1. Jian Li
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  2. Yun Liu
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  3. Dongdong Kong
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Correspondence to Jian Li.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Li, J., Liu, Y., Kong, D. et al. T-screen and yeast assay for the detection of the thyroid-disrupting activities of cadmium, mercury, and zinc. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 9843–9851 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6095-5

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