This project studied the biodegradation of a plasticizer, di-(2-ethylhexyl) adipate (DEHA), by two mammalian cell lines, HepG2 and WIF-B, in vitro . An MTT assay showed that DEHA had a toxic effect on both cell lines. Despite this, both hepatocyte cell lines successfully degraded the plasticizer. Metabolites were identified and quantified by gas chromatography. HepG2 cells showed minimal alcohol dehydrogense activity and this resulted in the accumulation of 2-ethylhexanol. WIF-B cells were able to breakdown the alcohol and produced 2-ethylhexanoic acid. It is important to note that an enzyme was essential for this step in the degradation of the plasticizer, as this proves that it was biodegradation and not physical degradation. By comparing the metabolites formed and the order of their appearance, the degradation pathway in these mammalian cells was found to be similar to the established degradation pathways for bacteria, fungi and yeast.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.111939 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | McGlynn, Andrea. |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Engineering (Department of Chemical Engineering.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002670490, proquestno: AAIMR38489, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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