Detection of toxic chemicals with high sensitivity by measuring the quantity of induced p450 mRNAs based on surface plasmon resonance

In this study we describe a novel sensor system to detect toxic chemicals b ased on measurement of the quantity of Saccharomyces cerevisiae P450 mRNAs induced by them. Detection was conducted using a flow-injection-type sensor system based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR). The DNA and peptide nucle ic acid (PNA) probes containing a complementary sequence to a part of P450 mRNA were immobilized on the sensor chip and the P450 mRNAs hybridized to t he probes were quantified. We succeeded in detecting 10 ng/L (10 ppt) of at razine using both DNA and PNA probes. Using this sensor system, we were abl e to detect bisphenol A in addition to atrazine. Furthermore, we achieved h igher sensitivity by amplifying the target P450 mRNA based on nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA). This method allows for sensitive, rap id, and easy detection of some toxic chemicals. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.