Research on advanced asbestos testing using asbestos-binding proteins and fluorescence

Abstract

It was discovered in the 1970s that asbestos fibre inhalation can cause lung cancer and other lethal lung conditions, and its use is therefore banned in many countries. However, large quantities of asbestos containing materials remain in old buildings and it is also found in natural materials such as talc. Professor Akio Kuroda, Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Life, Hiroshima University, is focused on the importance of fast and accurate asbestos testing. He and his team have been developing testing techniques to accurately pinpoint the presence of asbestos, including a fluorescent microscopy (FM) method that offers increased sensitivity, accuracy and convenience, and an asbestos-specific protein probe combined with a fluorescent marker that allows users to easily visualise asbestos fibres under a fluorescent microscope. Kuroda has also used engineered peptides, to develop a highly specific probe that binds to asbestos fibres and flags the presence of even minute fibres of the material. He and the team have used proteins based on samples from the Escherichia coli cellular protein library to develop probes that cover different types of asbestos.