Despite the great progress made in metal-induced toxicity mechanisms, a critical knowledge gap still exists in predicting adverse effects of heavy metals on living organisms in the natural environment, particularly during exposure to multi-metals. In this study, a multi-metal interaction model of Daphnia manga was developed in an effort to provide reasonable explanations regarding the joint effects resulting from exposure to multi-metals. Metallothionein (MT), a widely used biomarker, was selected. In this model, MT was supposed to play the role of a crucial transfer protein rather than detoxifying protein. Therefore, competitive complexation of metals to MT could highly affect the cellular metal redistribution. Thus, competitive complexation of MT in D. magna with metals like Pb²⁺, Cd²⁺ and Cu²⁺ was qualitatively studied. The results suggested that Cd²⁺ had the highest affinity towards MT, followed by Pb²⁺ and Cu²⁺. On the other hand, the combination of MT with Cu²⁺ appeared to alter its structure which resulted in higher affinity towards Pb²⁺. Overall, the predicted bioaccumulation of metals under multi-metal exposure was consisted with earlier reported studies. This model provided an alternative angle for joint effect through a combination of kinetic process and internal interactions, which could help to develop future models predicting toxicity to multi-metal exposure.

尽管金属诱导的毒性机制取得了巨大进展，但在预测重金属对自然环境中的生物体的不利影响（尤其是在暴露于多金属的过程中）方面，仍然存在关键的知识鸿沟。在这项研究中，开发了水蚤漫画的多金属相互作用模型，旨在为暴露于多金属导致的联合效应提供合理的解释。选择了广泛使用的生物标志物金属硫蛋白（MT）。在该模型中，MT被认为是至关重要的转移蛋白而不是排毒蛋白。因此，金属与MT的竞争性络合可能会严重影响细胞内金属的重新分布。因此，MT竞争络合在大型溞与像铅金属定性研究了2 ⁺，Cd ²⁺和Cu ²⁺。结果表明，Cd ²⁺对MT的亲和力最高，其次是Pb ²⁺和Cu ²⁺。另一方面，MT与Cu ²⁺的结合似乎改变了其结构，从而导致了对Pb ^2+的更高亲和力。总体而言，多金属暴露下金属的预测生物富集与早期报道的研究一致。该模型通过动力学过程和内部相互作用的组合为关节效应提供了另一个角度，这可能有助于开发将来的模型，以预测对多金属暴露的毒性。