The fatty acid profile of rainbow trout liver cells modulates their tolerance to methylmercury and cadmium.
The polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) composition of fish tissues, which generally reflects that of the diet, affects various cellular properties such as membrane structure and fluidity, energy metabolism and susceptibility to oxidative stress. Since these cellular parameters can play an important role in the cellular response to organic and inorganic pollutants, a variation of the PUFA supply might modify the toxicity induced by such xenobiotics. In this work, we investigated whether the cellular fatty acid profile has an impact on the in vitro cell sensitivity to two environmental pollutants: methylmercury and cadmium. Firstly, the fatty acid composition of the rainbow trout liver cell line RTL-W1 was modified by enriching the growth medium with either alpha-linolenic acid (ALA, 18:3n-3), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n-3), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3), linoleic acid (LA, 18:2n-6), arachidonic acid (AA, 20:4n-6) or docosapentaenoic acid (DPA, 22:5n-6). These modified cells and their control (no PUFA enrichment) were then challenged for 24h with increasing concentrations of methylmercury or cadmium. We observed that (i) the phospholipid composition of the RTL-W1 cells was profoundly modulated by changing the PUFA content of the growth medium: major modifications were a high incorporation of the supplemented PUFA in the cellular phospholipids, the appearance of direct elongation and desaturation metabolites in the cellular phospholipids as well as a change in the gross phospholipid composition (PUFA and monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) levels and n-3/n-6 ratio); (ii) ALA, EPA and DPA enrichment significantly protected the RTL-W1 cells against both methylmercury and cadmium; (iv) DHA enrichment significantly protected the cells against cadmium but not methylmercury; (v) AA and LA enrichment had no impact on the cell tolerance to both methylmercury and cadmium; (vi) the abundance of 20:3n-6, a metabolite of the n-6 biotransformation pathway, in phospholipids was negatively correlated to the cell tolerance to both methylmercury and cadmium. Overall, our results highlighted the importance of the fatty acid supply on the tolerance of fish liver cells to methylmercury and cadmium.
Institute of Life Sciences, Université catholique de Louvain, Place Croix du Sud 2/L7.05.08, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. Electronic address: aline.ferain@uclouvain.be.
Aline
A
Ferain
Institute of Life Sciences, Université catholique de Louvain, Place Croix du Sud 2/L7.05.08, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; Irstea, UR MALY, Centre de Lyon-Villeurbanne, rue de la Doua 5/32108, F-69616 Villeurbanne, France.
Chloé
C
Bonnineau
Institute of Life Sciences, Université catholique de Louvain, Place Croix du Sud 2/L7.05.08, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
Ineke
I
Neefs
Institute of Life Sciences, Université catholique de Louvain, Place Croix du Sud 2/L7.05.08, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
Jean François
JF
Rees
Institute of Life Sciences, Université catholique de Louvain, Place Croix du Sud 2/L7.05.08, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
Yvan
Y
Larondelle
Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology and Aquatic Ecology, Environmental Toxicology Unit, Ghent University, J. Plateaustraat 22, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.
Karel A C De
KA
Schamphelaere
Institute of Life Sciences, Université catholique de Louvain, Place Croix du Sud 2/L7.05.08, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
Cathy
C
Debier
D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D001711:Biotransformation; D002104:Cadmium / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity*; D002460:Cell Line; D003470:Culture Media; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / Q000378:metabolism*; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity*; D017686:Oncorhynchus mykiss / Q000378:metabolism*; D065840:Protective Factors; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*
D015415:Biomarkers; D003470:Culture Media; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D002104:Cadmium
Cadmium; Cytotoxicity; Fish; Methylmercury; Polyunsaturated fatty acids; RTL-W1 cells