Binding proteins bioaccumulation

Cope, W.G., J.G. Wiener, and G.J. Atchison. 1994. Hepatic cadmium, metal-binding proteins and bioaccumulation in bluegills exposed to aqueous cadmium. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 13 553-562. 

Predictions of bioaccumulation assume a standard model of dissolution in fat and are based on partition between water and organic solvent. The better studied tributyltin has been shown to partition based on binding to protein rather than dissolution in fat this might account for discrepancies between observed and predicted BCFs. 

A growing number of studies report on the occurrence of PFCs in food. The outcome of these studies has been related to potential dietary intake and exposure levels (mainly by the estimation of the daily intake). Most selected examples from the literature can be seen in Table 2. It is important to remark that PFOS and PFOA tend to bind to certain proteins rather than bioconcentrate in fat, but they have also some potential to bioaccumulate in the food chain. 

Llewellyn, L.E., 1997. Haemolymph protein in xanthid crabs Its selective binding of saxitoxin and possiblerole in toxin bioaccumulation. Mar. Biol., 128 599-606. 

Insertion of particular peptide motifs into proteins is not only a common method for protein analysis and purification but also for the development of new biotechnobgjes. Engineered proteins with controlled binding to other molecules include e.g., short metal-binding peptides in bacterial surface proteins for bioaccumulation and bioremediation purposes " or epitope-ta ed emgmies as a molecular sensor system, whose activity is modulated by anti-epitope antibodies."... 

Physical-chemical properties of pesticides are fundamental in such dynamics, governing the processes of environment contamination, absorption, distribution, metabolism and finally excretion from the body. The most important parameters determining the fate of pesticides in the environment and the body are solubility, lipophilicity, molecular mass, charges and volatility. The reactivity to bind to proteins also influences the bioaccumulation process. 

Some confusion has prevailed in the literature regarding the use of terms "biosorption" and "bioaccumulation". Biosorption (or bioadsorption) is a passive immobilization of metals by the biomass. Mechanisms of cell surface sorption in contrast to bioaccumulation are independent of cell metabolism they are based upon physicochemical interactions between metal and functional groups of the cell wall. The microorganism s cell wall mainly consists of polysaccharides, lipids and proteins, which have many binding sites for metals. This process is independent of the metabolism and metal binding is fast. Bioaccumulation, in contrast, is an intracellular metal accumulation process which involves metal binding on intracellular compounds, intracellular precipitation, methylation and other mechanisms (Mohan and Pittman, 2007). 

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