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Epigenotoxicity of environmental pollutants evaluated by a combination of DNA methylation inhibition and capillary electrophoresis–laser-induced fluorescence immunoassay

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Abstract

A variety of environmental pollutants may cause abnormal DNA methylation, which further disturb gene expression. In this work, we developed a rapid and sensitive method for the characterization and identification of the epigenotoxicity of environmental pollutants in terms of DNA methylation. The method combines in vitro inhibition reactions of a model DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) with rapid and sensitive capillary electrophoresis–laser-induced fluorescence (CE-LIF) immunoassays. This method was first assessed using two known DNMT inhibitors, (–)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate and RG108, and then applied to epigenotoxic evaluation of four aldehydes and six benzo-1,4-quinones. It was found that all these electrophilic chemicals could inhibit DNMT activity, probably due to their interactions with the active sites of DNMT. Interestingly, benzo-1,4-quinones displayed more inhibitory effects on DNMT activity than aldehydes. Among the tested six benzo-1,4-quinones, halogenated benzo-1,4-quinone showed higher inhibitory activity than non-halogenated p-benzo-1,4-quinone. Owing to its speed and sensitivity, our method will be potentially applicable for fast epigenotoxic screening of environmental pollutants and mechanistic study of environmental epigenetics.

Epigenotoxicity evaluation of environmental pollutants

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Acknowledgments

The work was supported by the Grants from the National Basic Research Program of China (2009CB421605 and 2010CB933502) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21077129, 20877091, 20890112, 21125523, and 20921063) to Dr. H. Wang.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Eco-toxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, 100085

    Xiaoli Wang & Hailin Wang

  2. Key Laboratory for Applied Technology of Sophisticated Analytical Instruments of Shandong Province, Analysis and Test Center, Shandong Academy of Sciences, Jinan, China, 250014

    Xiaoli Wang

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  1. Xiaoli Wang
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  2. Hailin Wang
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Correspondence to Hailin Wang.

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Wang, X., Wang, H. Epigenotoxicity of environmental pollutants evaluated by a combination of DNA methylation inhibition and capillary electrophoresis–laser-induced fluorescence immunoassay. Anal Bioanal Chem 405, 2435–2442 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-013-6717-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-013-6717-4

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