ABSTRACT
The repeated use of pesticides, and their subsequent residues, has contributed to severe adverse effects on the environment, including risks to human health. Therefore, it is important to assess the quality of the environment to ensure it remains free from pesticide residues. The six pesticides tested in this study showed high mortality on Eisenia fetida with LC50 values ranging from 7.7 to 37.9 g L(-1). The strongest lethal effect resulted from the organochlorine insecticide endosulfan (LC50=7.7 g L(-1)). Following exposure to the carbamate pesticides, acetylcholinesterase activity in E. fetida decreased dramatically in comparison to the control. Carboxylesterase activity was only lowered in E. fetida exposed to propoxur, when compared to the control. The remaining five pesticides had no significant effect on carboxylesterase activity in E. fetida. In order to discover pesticide-specific biomarkers with differentially expressed proteins after exposure to pesticides, protein patterns of pesticide-treated E. fetida were analyzed using SELDI-TOF MS with Q10 ProteinChips. Protein patterns were compared with their intensities at the same mass-to-charge ratios (m/z). All 42 peaks had intensities with associated p-values less than 0.089, and 40 of these peaks had associated p-values of 0.05. Using SELDI-TOF MS technology, selective biomarkers for the six pesticides tested were found in E. fetida; four proteins with 5425, 5697, 9523, and 9868 m/z were consistently observed in the earthworms following exposure to the carbamates.
Subject(s)
Oligochaeta/drug effects , Pesticides/toxicity , Acetylcholinesterase/metabolism , Animals , Biomarkers/metabolism , Captan/toxicity , Carbaryl/toxicity , Carbofuran/toxicity , Carboxylesterase/metabolism , Chlorpyrifos/toxicity , Endosulfan/toxicity , Oligochaeta/metabolism , Propoxur/toxicity , Protein Array Analysis , Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-IonizationABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC), also known as osteonectin or basement-membrane-40 (BM-40), is a member of a family of matricellular proteins, whose functions are to modulate cell-matrix interactions, growth and angiogenesis in colorectal cancer. In this study, the expression of SPARC was evaluated and its correlations with clinicopathological parameters were investigated. METHODS: The researchers analyzed the expression patterns of SPARC by using immunohistochemistry in 332 cases of colorectal cancer of tissue microarray. The clinicopathological characteristics were defined by using the TNM criteria of the Union for International Cancer Control. Clinicopathological factors such as age, sex, histologic type of the tumor, pathologic tumor stage, TNM stage, and lymphovascular invasion were evaluated according to the SPARC expression. RESULTS: The hazard ratios expressing SPARC in tumor cells, in the stroma, and in both tumor cells and the stroma were 2.10 (P = 0.036), 3.27 (P = 0.003) and 2.12 (P = 0.038), respectively. Patient survival was decreased in patient expressing SPARC in the stroma, and this result showed statistical significance (P = 0.016). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that SPARC expression in a tumor and in the stroma correlates with disease progression and may be used as a prognostic marker for colorectal cancer.