REPUBLIC OF SERBIA

MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

www.mod.gov.rs

MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

Material Resources Sector

Defensive Technologies Department

Military Technical Institute

www.vti.mod.gov.rs

DIVERSE ROLES OF CHOLINESTERASES IN THE PREVENTION AND MANAGEMENT OF ORGANOPHOSPHATE CONTAMINATION:
A BRIEF REVIEW

SONJA BAUK

Military Technical Institute, Belgrade, bauk.sonja@gmail.com

maja vitorović-todorović

Military Technical Institute, Belgrade, majavitod@gmail.com

MARINA ILIĆ

Military Technical Institute, Belgrade, marinailic1970@gmail.com

tamara vujatović

Faculty of Chemistry, University of Belgrade, tamara.vujatovic@gmail.com

Abstract: The need for improvement of the existing strategy for mitigation the life-threatening effects of toxic organophosphates (OPs) arises from an increased risk of environmental contamination occurrence as a consequence of their widespread application, extreme toxicity and potential use as chemical warfare agents. Enzymes of the cholinesterase (ChE) family are endogenous targets of toxic OPs and so they are especially suitable for solutions based on biotechnology approach in different areas of an emergency response in the case of OPs contamination. Many research papers are focused on the applications of ChEs in different biodetection techniques or as a part of decontamination and medical protection strategy, as well as in the development of enzyme-based biomaterials intended for use in these purposes. In this paper, many diverse roles of ChEs in the prevention and management of OPs contamination are summarized and discussed.

Keywords: cholinesterases, organophosphates, detection, decontamination, medical protection.