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Published on: August 10, 2009
Evaluation of whole wastewater effluent impacts on HepG2 using DNA microarray-based transcriptome analysis
Hiroe Hara-Yamamura1, Koji Nakashima, Asiful Hoque
1Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University, North-13, West-8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-8628 Japan.
Environmental Science & Technology
|April 18, 2013
Summary
DNA microarray analysis using human hepatoma HepG2 cells revealed wastewater effluent impacts. Membrane bioreactor effluents showed minimal cellular effects, demonstrating transcriptome analysis as a powerful toxicity evaluation tool.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Molecular Biology
- Toxicology
Background:
- Wastewater treatment processes like membrane bioreactors (MBRs) and activated sludge (AS) generate effluents with varying toxicity.
- Assessing the comprehensive impact of whole wastewater effluents on cellular health is crucial for environmental safety.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the impacts of MBR and AS wastewater effluents on human hepatoma HepG2 cells using DNA microarray-based transcriptome analysis.
- To compare transcriptome analysis with conventional bioassays for toxicity assessment.
- To identify potential genetic markers for cellular impact evaluation.
Main Methods:
- DNA microarray-based transcriptome analysis of HepG2 cells exposed to MBR and AS effluents.
- Conventional bioassays including cytotoxicity and bioluminescence inhibition tests.
- Quantification of gene expression levels for selected markers related to "lipid metabolism", "response to endogenous stimulus", and "response to inorganic substance".
Main Results:
- Exposure to wastewater effluents resulted in differential expression of 2 to 926 genes across 0 to 225 biological processes.
- An MBR effluent from a long solid retention time (40 days) and small membrane pore size (0.03 μm) exhibited the least impact on HepG2 cells, comparable to tap water.
- Gene expression responses correlated well with cytotoxicity test results, providing molecular insights into sublethal adverse effects.
Conclusions:
- DNA microarray-based transcriptome analysis is a potent method for rapid and comprehensive evaluation of whole wastewater effluent impacts.
- Selected genes involved in "lipid metabolism", "response to endogenous stimulus", and "response to inorganic substance" show promise as cellular impact markers.
- While distinguishing harmful from innocuous impacts requires further refinement, transcriptome analysis offers valuable mechanistic information for wastewater toxicity assessment.
