Environmental monitoring in free-living mus spretus by means of biochemical biomarkers

Bryant, Maya

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Title: Environmental monitoring in free-living mus spretus by means of biochemical biomarkers
Author: Bryant, Maya
Date: 2014
Decade: 2010-2019
Abstract: Anthropogenic activities are dangerously releasing increasing amount of contaminants in our environment, threatening the viability of the ecosystem and the health of the organisms living there. The Algerian mouse mus spretus is the best characterized aborigine mouse species native to open habitats around the western Mediterranean. It is a good candidate organism to be used as bioindicator of pollution in terrestrial ecosystems. The aim of this project is to study the biological effects of pollutants. For that reason, mice were exposed to different contaminants (heavy metals, organic pollutants) in our laboratory and their organs/tissues have been extracted for analysis. Some biochemical tools from a battery including: analysis of damage to biomolecules (DNA lesions as i.e. 8-oxoguanine or apurinic sites; lipid damage as i.e. malondialdehyde), levels of enzymatic, and non-enzymatic antioxidants (i.e. catalase, metallothioneins, GSH), and the redox status of proteins were assayed. These tests show that the presence of the contaminant DDE had a very clear effect on the mice. The mice that were exposed to this pollutant showed an increased concentration of reduced thiols, total glutathione, and glutathione reductase, and decreased concentration of catalase and malondialdehyde (MDA). This could infer that the organism has exhibited oxidative stress which causes the changes in the levels of enzymes and metabolites tested. These results indicate that exposure to pollutants such as DDE has an impressive role in oxidative stress that effects wildlife and could potentially have similar effects in humans.
Document Type: text
Format: application/pdf
Medium: conference proceedings
Collection: Enhancing Global Research and Education in STEM at Spelman College (G-STEM)
Advisor: Michan, Carmen
Alhama, Jose
Bose, Nripendia
Institution: Spelman College
Geographic Location: Georgia--Atlanta
Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12322/sc.gstem:2014_bryant_maya
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