title: Ecotoxicological evaluation of 4-aminobiphenyl using a test battery.
abstract: Experimental bioassays are currently used in ecotoxicology and environmental toxicology to provide information for risk assessment evaluation of new chemicals and to investigate their effects and mechanisms of action; in addition, ecotoxicological models are used for the detection, control, and monitoring of the presence of pollutants in the environment. As a single bioassay will never provide a full picture of the quality of the environment, a representative, cost-effective, and quantitative test battery should be developed. In this study, the effects of 4-aminobiphenyl (4-ABP) were investigated using a battery of ecotoxicological model systems, including immobilization of Daphnia magna, development of zebrafish embryos, and inhibition of mammalian cell proliferation. The growth inhibition effects of 4-ABP were assessed on mouse connective tissue fibroblast cells (L929 cells) and human hepatocelluar carcinoma cells (HepG2 cells) by using a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-trazolium bromide reduction assay. The results reveal that 4-aminobiphenyl is toxic for aquatic organisms and mammalian cells. The system most sensitive to 4-aminobiphenyl is D. magna immobilization, followed by development of zebrafish embryos, and inhibition of cell proliferation. L929 and HepG2 cell growth inhibition bioassays show low sensitivity. These findings indicate that a single model for the possible harmful effect of 4-ABP has its limitations; only a test battery, composed of bioassays on different species, can provide an accurate assessment of the action of 4-ABP in the whole environment.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Department of Biochemistry, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.
authors.forename: Jiangning
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Hongxia
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Junfeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zichun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hua
mesh_terms: D000611:Aminobiphenyl Compounds / Q000633:toxicity*; D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay / Q000379:methods; D002273:Carcinogens / Q000633:toxicity*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000473:pathology; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D003621:Daphnia; D004463:Ecology; D047108:Embryonic Development; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D018570:Risk Assessment; D018675:Toxicity Tests / Q000379:methods*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000196:embryology
chemical_list: D000611:Aminobiphenyl Compounds; D002273:Carcinogens; C006757:4-biphenylamine