Addressing the exposure-response relationship of toxic metals in humans: the rise of LC -
based metallomics tools to investigate their chemical biology at the blood-organ nexus
Mathew Sara, Yemna Badar, Nathania de Kluyver and Jürgen Gailer
Department of Chemistry, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
The global contamination of ~15% of agricultural soils with toxic metal(loid) species (TMS)
including arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and nickel compromises food safety and chronically exposes
millions of people to these inorganic pollutants. While all of these inorganic pollutants are
absorbed into the bloodstream to varying degrees, the health ramifications that pertain to this
arguably biggest problem in the postgenomic world remain poorly defined, particularly with regard
to the exposure of babies, children, pregnant women and industrial workers. To better understand
the underlying exposure-response relationship, it is crucial to address the chemical biology related
research questions of TMS that unfold at the blood-organ nexus. Since the associated complexity
makes it particularly challenging to causally link human exposure to exceedingly small daily TMS
doses with adverse health effects and environmental diseases, the use of appropriate analytical
tools is paramount. One versatile research approach whose full potential to probe dynamic
bioinorganic processes has not yet been fully recognized is the application of LC-based
metallomics tools. Based on recent results it will be illustrated how this approach can be tailored
to address chemical biology questions pertaining to toxic mercury and cadmium species at near
physiological conditions. The inherent capability of employing LC-based metallomics tools to
tackle chemical biology problems offers the prospect of obtaining fundamentally new insight into
the exposure-response relationship of TMS, which is a prerequisite to more effectively deal with
this emerging public health crisis.