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Science 7 November 2008:
Vol. 322. no. 5903, p. 917
DOI: 10.1126/science.1162395
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Brevia

Bioactive Contaminants Leach from Disposable Laboratory Plasticware

G. Reid McDonald,1 Alan L. Hudson,1 Susan M. J. Dunn,1 Haitao You,1 Glen B. Baker,2 Randy M. Whittal,3 Jonathan W. Martin,4 Amitabh Jha,5 Dale E. Edmondson,6 Andrew Holt1*

Disposable plasticware such as test tubes, pipette tips, and multiwell assay or culture plates are used routinely in most biological research laboratories. Manufacturing of plastics requires the inclusion of numerous chemicals to enhance stability, durability, and performance. Some lubricating (slip) agents, exemplified by oleamide, also occur endogenously in humans and are biologically active, and cationic biocides are included to prevent bacterial colonization of the plastic surface. We demonstrate that these manufacturing agents leach from laboratory plasticware into a standard aqueous buffer, dimethyl sulfoxide, and methanol and can have profound effects on proteins and thus on results from bioassays of protein function. These findings have far-reaching implications for the use of disposable plasticware in biological research.

1 Department of Pharmacology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2B7, Canada.
2 Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R7, Canada.
3 Department of Chemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2G2, Canada.
4 Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2G3, Canada.
5 Department of Chemistry, Acadia University, Wolfville, NS B4P 2R6, Canada.
6 Department of Biochemistry, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: aholt{at}pmcol.ualberta.ca

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Extraction, Identification, and Functional Characterization of a Bioactive Substance From Automated Compound-Handling Plastic Tips.
J. Watson, E. B. Greenough, J. E. Leet, M. J. Ford, D. M. Drexler, J. V. Belcastro, J. J. Herbst, M. Chatterjee, and M. Banks (2009)
J Biomol Screen 14, 566-572
   Abstract »    PDF »
Best Practices in Compound Management for Preserving Compound Integrity and Accurately Providing Samples for Assays.
S. L. Matson, M. Chatterjee, D. A. Stock, J. E. Leet, E. A. Dumas, C. D. Ferrante, W. E. Monahan, L. S. Cook, J. Watson, N. J. Cloutier, et al. (2009)
J Biomol Screen 14, 476-484
   Abstract »    PDF »

E-Letters:

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Bisphenol A as a Contaminant in Laboratory Plasticware
Rebecca Roberts
Science Online, 8 Dec 2008 [Full text]
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)