Dragun, Zrinka; Kiralj, Zoran; Fiket, Željka; Ivanković, Dušica (2025) Preliminary insight into the intracellular behaviour of rare earths and other technology-critical elements (TCEs) in northern pike liver: study of TCE-binding biomolecules via size-exclusion HPLC-ICP-MS. Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts, 27 (1). pp. 262-276. ISSN 2050-7887
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Abstract
Technology critical elements (TCEs) refer to the elements that, since recently, play an important role in many emerging technologies and the production of advanced materials, and include lanthanides, tungsten and vanadium. Actinides, Tl, and Pb are also abundantly used in power generation, industrial applications, and modern agricultural practices. The information on influence of these elements on the aquatic environment and biota are still rather scarce. Thus, the distributions of the above-mentioned metals among cytosolic biomolecules of different molecular masses in the liver of the northern pike (Esox lucius) from the Mrežnica River (Croatia) were studied to obtain an insight into their intracellular behaviour and their potential for toxicity. The applied method was hyphenated system of size-exclusion high-performance liquid chromatography and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. In the samples with lower cytosolic concentrations, the obtained distributions of several TCEs (lanthanides, W, Th, U) and Pb among biomolecules of wide-range of molecular masses, covering entire column separation range (<10 to >600 kDa), indicated their nonspecific binding to various intracellular components. In the sample with the highest cytosolic concentrations, a shift towards highest molecular masses (>600 kDa) was observed for lanthanides and actinides, as a sign of their possible binding to protein aggregates, whereas W and Pb showed preference for medium molecular mass biomolecules (30–100 kDa). Moreover, it can be hypothesized that prominent elution of U and Pb observed in the low molecular mass region (<10 kDa), possibly pointed to their partial detoxification. Potential Pb association with metallothionein-like proteins was also recorded (6–7 kDa). The remaining two elements, V/Tl, showed more specific intracellular binding, being eluted within one/two narrow peaks in high molecular mass region (575 kDa/100-400 kDa). Tendency of studied TCEs and other potentially toxic elements to bind to medium and high molecular mass intracellular proteins, renders further research of their specific targets a necessity.
| Item Type: | Article | ||||||||
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| Uncontrolled Keywords: | actinides; cytosol; Esox lucius; lanthanides; liver; rare earths; tungsten; vanadium | ||||||||
| Subjects: | NATURAL SCIENCES > Interdisciplinary Natural Sciences | ||||||||
| Divisions: | Division for Marine and Enviromental Research | ||||||||
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| Depositing User: | Ana Zečević | ||||||||
| Date Deposited: | 29 Apr 2025 11:35 | ||||||||
| URI: | http://fulir.irb.hr/id/eprint/9781 | ||||||||
| DOI: | 10.1039/d4em00674g |
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