Molecular docking and geographical information systems as tools to assess the potential impact of veterinary medicines on non-target organisms and the environment

Veterinary medicines (VMs) from agricultural industry can enter the environment in a number of ways. This includes direct exposure through aquaculture, accidental spillage and disposal, and indirect entry by leaching from manure or runoff after treatment. Many compounds used in animal treatments have ecotoxic properties that may have chronic or sometimes lethal effects when they come into contact with non-target organisms. VMs enter the environment in mixtures, potentially having additive effects. Traditional ecotoxicology tests are used to determine the lethal and sometimes reproductive effects on freshwater and terrestrial organisms. However, organisms used in ecotoxicology tests can be unrepresentative of the populations that are likely to be exposed to the compound in the environment. Most often the tests are on single compound toxicity but mixture effects may be significant and should be included in ecotoxicology testing. This work investigates the use, measured environmental concentrations (MECs) and potential impact of sea lice treatments on salmon farms in Scotland. Alternative methods for ecotoxicology testing including mixture toxicity, and the use of in silico techniques to predict the chronic impact of VMs on different species of aquatic organisms were also investigated. The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) provided information on the use of five sea lice treatments from 2008-2011 on Scottish salmon farms. This information was combined with the recently available data on sediment MECs for the years 2009-2012 provided by SEPA using ArcGIS 10.1. In depth analysis of this data showed that from a total of 55 sites, 30 sites had a MEC higher than the maximum allowable concentration (MAC) as set out by SEPA for emamectin benzoate and 7 sites had a higher MEC than MAC for teflubenzuron. A number of sites that were up to 16 km away from the nearest salmon farm reported as using either emamectin benzoate or teflubenzuron measured positive for the two treatments. There was no relationship between current direction and the distribution of the sea lice treatments, nor was there any evidence for alternative sources of the compounds e.g. land treatments. The sites that had MECs higher than the MAC could pose a risk to non-target organisms and disrupt the species dynamics of the area. There was evidence that some marine protected sites might be at risk of exposure to these compounds. To complement this work, effects on acute mixture toxicity of the 5 sea lice treatments, plus one major metabolite 3-phenoxybenzoic acid (3PBA), were measured using an assay using the bioluminescent bacteria Aliivibrio fischeri. When exposed to the 5 sea lice treatments and 3PBA A. fischeri showed a response to 3PBA, emamectin benzoate and azamethiphos as well as combinations of the three. In order to establish any additive effect of the sea lice treatments, the efficacy of two mixture prediction equations, concentration addition (CA) and independent action ii(IA) were tested using the results from single compound dose response curves. In this instance IA was the more effective prediction method with a linear regression confidence interval of 82.6% compared with 22.6% of CA. In silico molecular docking was carried out to predict the chronic effects of 15 VMs (including the five used as sea lice control). Molecular docking has been proposed as an alternative screening method for the chronic effects of large animal treatments on non-target organisms. Oestrogen receptor alpha (ERα) of 7 non-target bony fish and the African clawed frog Xenopus laevis were modelled using SwissModel. These models were then ‘docked’ to oestradiol, the synthetic oestrogen ethinylestradiol, two known xenoestrogens dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and bisphenol A (BPA), the antioestrogen breast cancer treatment tamoxifen and 15 VMs using Auto Dock 4. Based on the results of this work, four VMs were identified as being possible xenoestrogens or anti-oestrogens; these were cypermethrin, deltamethrin, fenbendazole and teflubenzuron. Further investigation, using in vitro assays, into these four VMs has been suggested as future work. A modified recombinant yeast oestrogen screen (YES) was attempted using the cDNA of the ERα of the zebrafish Danio rerio and the rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss. Due to time and difficulties in cloning protocols this work was unable to be completed. Use of such in vitro assays would allow for further investigation of the highlighted VMs into their oestrogenic potential. In conclusion, VMs used as sea lice treatments, such as teflubenzuron and emamectin benzoate may be more persistent and have a wider range in the environment than previously thought. Mixtures of sea lice treatments have been found to persist together in the environment, and effects of these mixtures on the bacteria A. fischeri can be predicted using the IA equation. Finally, molecular docking may be a suitable tool to predict chronic endocrine disrupting effects and identify varying degrees of impact on the ERα of nine species of aquatic organisms.

Production of Polyhydroxyalkanoates by Pseudomonas mendocina using vegetable oils and their characterisation

Synthesis of Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) by Pseudomonas mendocina, using different vegetable oils such as, coconut oil, groundnut oil, corn oil and olive oil, as the sole carbon source was investigated for the first time. The PHA yield obtained was compared with that obtained during the production of PHAs using sodium octanoate as the sole carbon source. The fermentation profiles at shaken flask and bioreactor levels revealed that vegetable oils supported the growth of Pseudomonas mendocina and PHA accumulation in this organism. Moreover, when vegetable oil (coconut oil) was used as the sole carbon source, fermentation profiles showed better growth and polymer production as compared to conditions when sodium octanoate was used as the carbon source. In addition, comparison of PHA accumulation at shaken flask and fermenter level confirmed the higher PHA yield at shaken flask level production. The highest cell mass found using sodium octanoate was 1.8 g/L, whereas cell mass as high as 5.1 g/L was observed when coconut oil was used as the feedstock at flask level production. Moreover, the maximum PHA yield of 60.5% dry cell weight (dcw) was achieved at shaken flask level using coconut oil as compared to the PHA yield of 35.1% dcw obtained using sodium octanoate as the sole carbon source. Characterisations of the chemical, physical, mechanical, surface and biocompatibility properties of the polymers produced have been carried out by performing different analyses as described in the second chapter of this study. Chemical analysis using GC and FTIR investigations showed medium chain length (MCL) PHA production in all conditions. GC-MS analysis revealed a unique terpolymer production, containing 3-hydroxyoctanoic acid, 3-hydroxydecanoic acid and 3-hydroxydodecanoic acid when coconut oil, groundnut oil, olive oil, and corn oil were used as the carbon source. Whereas production of the homopolymer containing 3-hydroxyoctanoic acid was observed when sodium octanoate was used as the carbon source. MCL-PHAs produced in this study using sodium octanoate, coconut oil, and olive oil exhibited melting transitions, indicating that each of the PHA was crystalline or semi-crystalline polymer. In contrast, the thermal properties of PHAs produced from groundnut and corn oils showed no melting transition, indicating that they were completely amorphous or semi-crystalline, which was also confirmed by the X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) results obtained in this study. Mechanical analysis of the polymers produced showed higher stiffness of the polymer produced from coconut oil than the polymer from sodium octanoate. Surface characterisation of the polymers using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) revealed a rough surface topography and surface contact angle measurement revealed their hydrophobic nature. Moreover, to investigate the potential applicability of the produced polymers as the scaffold materials for dental pulp regeneration, multipotent human Mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) were cultured onto the polymer films. Results indicated that these polymers are not cytotoxic towards the hMSCs and could support their attachment and proliferation. Highest cell growth was observed on the polymer samples produced from corn oil, followed by the polymer produced using coconut oil. In conclusion, this work established, for the first time, that vegetable oils are a good economical source of carbon for production of MCL-PHA copolymers effectively by Pseudomonas mendocina. Moreover, biocompatibility studies suggest that the produced polymers may have potential for dental tissue engineering application.

The N-terminal domain modulates α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptor desensitization

AMPA receptors are tetrameric glutamate-gated ion channels that mediate fast synaptic neurotransmission in mammalian brain. Their subunits contain a two-lobed N-terminal domain (NTD) that comprises over 40% of the mature polypeptide. The NTD is not obligatory for the assembly of tetrameric receptors, and its functional role is still unclear. By analyzing full-length and NTD-deleted GluA1-4 AMPA receptors expressed in HEK 293 cells, we found that the removal of the NTD leads to a significant reduction in receptor transport to the plasma membrane, a higher steady state-to-peak current ratio of glutamate responses, and strongly increased sensitivity to glutamate toxicity in cell culture. Further analyses showed that NTD-deleted receptors display both a slower onset of desensitization and a faster recovery from desensitization of agonist responses. Our results indicate that the NTD promotes the biosynthetic maturation of AMPA receptors and, for membrane-expressed channels, enhances the stability of the desensitized state. Moreover, these findings suggest that interactions of the NTD with extracellular/synaptic ligands may be able to fine-tune AMPA receptor-mediated responses, in analogy with the allosteric regulatory role demonstrated for the NTD of NMDA receptors.

Total synthesis of 3,5-O-dicaffeoylquinic acid and its derivatives

We report the first total synthesis of 3,5-O-dicaffeoylquinic acid and its derivatives, 3,5-O-diferuloylqui- nic acid and 3,5-(3,4-dimethoxycinnamyl)quinic acid, in a nine-step sequence. The key step involves Knoevenagel condensations between vanillin, 3,4-dimethoxybenzaldehyde or 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy- benzaldehyde and the dimalonate ester of quinic acid.