title: Spermatozoa: A relevant biological target for genotoxicity assessment of contaminants in the estuarine bivalve Scrobicularia plana.
abstract: Evaluation of DNA quality of gametes is a relevant method to predict potential consequences of pollutants in the next generations, as it allows to define adverse outcome pathways implicated in pollutant-mediated toxicity for risk assessment. In the present study, a comet assay was developed for the spermatozoa of Scrobicularia plana exposed to 10 and 100μg/L of benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) for 24h and 5days. The induction of apoptosis and repair mechanisms was assessed by determining caspase-3 activity and polymerase cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) mRNA expression level. Results showed that B[a]P induced high levels of DNA breaks that were associated with apoptosis for all the conditions tested, indicating that the spermatozoa were sensitive to B[a]P. PCNA gene expression was induced in animals exposed to the highest concentrations of B[a]P, suggesting that defence mechanisms were enhanced in these animals. This preliminary study demonstrated the utility of spermatozoa as a relevant biological target for genotoxicity assessment of contaminants and will enable to predict the effect of contaminants on future generations.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Mer, Molécules, Santé (MMS, EA 2160), Université Catholique de l'Ouest, Angers F-49000, France. Electronic address: amelie.chatel@uco.fr.
authors.forename: Amélie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Châtel
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Mer, Molécules, Santé (MMS, EA 2160), Université Catholique de l'Ouest, Angers F-49000, France.
authors.forename: Mélanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bruneau
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Mer, Molécules, Santé (MMS, EA 2160), Université Catholique de l'Ouest, Angers F-49000, France.
authors.forename: Clémence
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lièvre
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Mer, Molécules, Santé (MMS, EA 2160), Université Catholique de l'Ouest, Angers F-49000, France.
authors.forename: Astrid
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Goupil
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Mer, Molécules, Santé (MMS, EA 2160), Université Catholique de l'Ouest, Angers F-49000, France.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mouneyrac
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D001564:Benzo(a)pyrene / Q000633:toxicity*; D049872:Bivalvia / Q000187:drug effects*; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000378:metabolism; D020552:Comet Assay; D004249:DNA Damage; D008297:Male; D018809:Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000187:drug effects*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D018809:Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D001564:Benzo(a)pyrene; D053148:Caspase 3
keywords: Apoptosis; Benzo[a]pyrene; DNA damage; DNA repair; Scrobicularia plana; Spermatozoa