Research

Publications
Title: Exploring the direct effects of microcystin-LR on DNA via using cross-technical means
First author: Zhang, Huixia; Wang, Zhaomin; Liu, Yong; Xie, Ping
Journal: ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY
Years: 2022
Volume / issue: /
DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2022.113841
Abstract: Microcystin-leucine arginine (MC-LR) is the most toxic and abundant microcystin produced by cyanobacteria. Previous studies have demonstrated that MC-LR can lead to DNA damage by increasing intracellular reactive oxygen species content to induce oxidative stress. However, the direct effect of MC-LR on DNA has not been fully described. In this study, the direct effect of MC-LR on DNA was explored by using spectral analysis and molecular biology technology. First, the fluorescent probe Bptp-R2 was developed to monitor different types of DNA and explore the direct interaction between DNA and MC-LR. The significant differences in the fluorescence of pro-be-plasmid DNA and probe-ds DNA at various MC-LR concentrations (0, 5, 10, 20, and 30 mu mol/L) and MC-LR exposure times (0, 6, 12, and 24 h) showed that the direct interaction between DNA and MC-LR was significant (P <= 0.01). Gel electrophoresis demonstrated that the direct interaction between DNA and MC-LR cannot cause DNA strand breaks or change DNA configuration. Then, PCR experiments revealed that the direct interaction between DNA and MC-LR cannot affect DNA replication in a PCR system (P <= 0.01). This study discovered that the effects of MC-LR on DNA originate mainly from the secondary effects of MC-LR rather than from the direct interaction between DNA and MC-LR.