Estrogenic effect of dioxin-like aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) agonist (PCB congener 126) in salmon hepatocytes.
Previous studies have shown that aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) agonists possess anti-estrogenic activities and several mechanisms have been proposed to explain the interactions between AhR and estrogen receptor (ER) signalling pathways. In the present study, we show that 3,3'4,4'5-pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB126 - a dioxin-like AhR agonist) produced estrogenic responses in the absence of ER agonist, in fish in vitro system. We exposed salmon primary hepatocytes to PCB126 (1, 10 and 50 nM) [corrected] and the ER agonist nonylphenol (NP; 5 and 10 microM) singly and also in combination. Vitellogenin (Vtg) and zona radiata proteins (Zr-proteins) levels were analysed by semi-quantitative ELISA. We observed that the protein levels of Vtg and Zr-proteins were significantly induced in a concentration-specific manner in cells treated with PCB126 and NP, singly or in combination. In general, these results show a novel aspect of dioxin-like PCB effect not previously demonstrated in fish system.
Mortensen
Anne S
AS
Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology NTNU, Trondheim, Norway.
Arukwe
Augustine
A
D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004527:Egg Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020847:Estrogen Receptor Modulators / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D010636:Phenols / Q000633:toxicity; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000633:toxicity*; D018336:Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon / Q000819:agonists*; D020317:Salmo salar; D014819:Vitellogenins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*
D004527:Egg Proteins; D020847:Estrogen Receptor Modulators; D010636:Phenols; D018336:Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon; D014819:Vitellogenins; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C423083:zona radiata protein, fish; C025256:nonylphenol; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls; C023035:3,4,5,3',4'-pentachlorobiphenyl