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Application of the high throughput Attagene Factorial TM platform to environmental monitoring: Characterizing complex, environmental mixtures
Citation:
Blackwell, B., A. Schroeder, K. Houck, G. Ankley, AND Dan Villeneuve. Application of the high throughput Attagene Factorial TM platform to environmental monitoring: Characterizing complex, environmental mixtures. Society of Toxicology, New Orleans, LA, March 13 - 17, 2016.
Impact/Purpose:
not applicable
Description:
Bioassays can be employed to evaluate the integrated effects of complex mixtures of both known and unidentified contaminants present in environmental samples. However, such methods have typically focused on one or a few pathways despite the fact that the chemicals in a mixture may exhibit a wide range of activities. High throughput toxicology approaches that can rapidly screen samples for a broad diversity of biological activities offer a means to provide a more comprehensive characterization of complex mixtures. To test this concept, twenty-four ambient water samples were collected, extracted, and screened for their ability to interact with or modulate over 80 different transcription factors using the Attagene FactorialTM platform utilized by the US EPA’s ToxCast Program. Samples evaluated included 10 water samples collected in varying proximity to a wastewater discharge into the St. Louis River, MN; water collected at five sites along a gradient centered on a wastewater discharge into the Maumee River, Ohio, USA; and eight samples collected in association with a nation-wide USGS surface streams study. For samples collected along the St. Louis River, the greatest number of biological activities were observed at locations closest to wastewater discharge with up to 13 endpoints responding. The Maumee River showed a gradient response in the number of observed activities, ranging from three positive responses observed far upstream of a wastewater discharge to 10 positive responses at the mixing zone. TGFb signaling and the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) activation were the biological activities observed at the lowest sample concentration. For the USGS streams study sites, the number of positive responses ranged from two for a sample collected from the Iowa River, IA to 15 for a sample collected from the South Platte River, CO. Estrogen response elements and AhR were activated at the lowest sample concentration. The results highlight the applicability of high throughput toxicology to screening level assessments of environmental sites.