Acquired resistance to Ah receptor agonists in a population of Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) inhabiting a marine superfund site: in vivo and in vitro studies on the inducibility of xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes

Expression of P-glycoprotein in killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) exposed to environmental xenobiotics

P-glycoproteins (P-gp) are transmembrane efflux flippases that prevent the cellular accumulation of moderately hydrophobic compounds and are responsible for certain multidrug resistance phenotypes in tumor cell lines and human patients. We investigated whether P-gps could be involved in a contaminant resistant phenotype observed in a population of fish exposed over generations to high levels of planar halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons (PHAHs). Hepatic and intestinal epithelial P-gp expression was examined by immunoblot and immunohistochemistry in killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) from New Bedford Harbor, MA (NBH), a Superfund site highly contaminated with PHAHs, and from Scorton Creek on Cape Cod, MA (SC), a relatively unpolluted site. The NBH population has developed resistance to the toxicity of PHAHs. Hepatic P-gp levels were more than 40% greater in fish freshly collected from SC than in fish freshly collected from NBH. When killifish from either site were maintained in clean water for up to 78 days to permit depuration of bioaccumulated contaminants, hepatic P-gp levels decreased approximately 50% by day 8. P-glycoprotein expression was detected in the intestinal epithelium in 55% of freshly collected NBH fish. However, depurated NBH fish and freshly caught and depurated SC fish rarely expressed P-gp in the intestine. In an effort to determine whether environmental chemicals at the two sites might contribute to altered P-gp expression, depurated fish were exposed either to sediment collected from SC or 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzofuran, a contaminant found at the NBH site and a model aryl hydrocarbon receptor agonist. Neither exposure affected hepatic P-gp levels in killifish. Elevated intestinal P-gp in NBH fish might counter the absorption of P-gp substrates/inducers and thus limit the amount of these compounds reaching the liver, which might account for the lower hepatic P-gp levels in NBH fish compared to SC fish. The differences in hepatic P-gp levels (SC>NBH) and intestinal P-gp (NBH>SC) in freshly collected fish also might reflect environmental exposure to different anthropogenic contaminants or microbial, algal, plant or other natural products via the water column, sediment, or diet at each site.

Evidence for resistance to benzo[a]pyrene and 3,4,3'4'-tetrachlorobiphenyl in a chronically polluted Fundulus heteroclitus population

Halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons (HAHs) and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are major environmental contaminants. Fish species that are chronically exposed to these compounds can develop resistance to their toxic effects. In all fish species studied to date, toxicant resistance has been accompanied by decreased inducibility of the xenobiotic metabolizing enzyme, cytochrome P450 1A (CYPIA). CYP1A induction is mediated through the Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor (AHR). Although these compounds mediate their effects through this pathway, there have been resistant populations in which one chemical class cannot induce CYPIA expression (HAHs) while the other (PAHs) can. Resistance to PAHs was examined in a HAH-resistant population of Fundulus heteroclitus collected from a site contaminated with both compound classes (Newark Bay, NJ). Fish were injected intraperitoneally with the HAH 3,4,3',4'-tetrachlorobiphenyl (PCB77), benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P, a PAH) or vehicle and sacrificed after 2 (B[a]P) or 5 days (PCB77, vehicle). We found no significant increase in CYP1A mRNA levels in resistant Newark Bay F. heteroclitus treated with either B[a]P or PCB77, while there was a 3.9 fold (PCB77) and 4.2 fold (B[a]P) increase in CYP1A mRNA in Flax fish relative to controls. AHR labeling studies revealed significantly (P < 0.05) lower levels of hepatic AHR in Newark fish (1,770 +/- 1,693.2 DPM) relative to Flax fish (6,082.5 +/- 1,709.9 DPM). Overall, these data suggest Newark F. heteroclitus are resistant to both PAHs and HAHs at the level of CYP1A mRNA, which might be mediated, in part, though lower expression of AHR. We are currently studying the promoter sequence to determine its role in chemical resistance.

Effects of benzo[a]pyrene exposure on a fish population resistant to the toxic effects of dioxin-like compounds

Effects of a model polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) were compared in populations of the estuarine fish Fundulus heteroclitus indigenous to a reference site and one highly contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other compounds. The fish population resident to the PCB-contaminated site is genetically resistant to those PCB congeners categorized as dioxin-like compounds (DLCs) that act through the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR). In response to DLC exposures, these DLC-resistant fish showed poor inducibility for enzymes known to be regulated by the AHR pathway and important for the metabolism of xenobiotics including some PAHs that also act as AHR agonists. Therefore, a laboratory study using the model PAH, benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), was conducted to evaluate how PAHs might affect these wild fish populations that differed in their inherent sensitivities to DLCs and in their tissue concentrations of contaminants. Following BaP treatment, the activities of two xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes and the concentrations of BaP-DNA adducts, as measured using the 32P-postlabeling method, were lower in the livers of DLC-resistant than reference fish. These results suggest that DLC-resistance could provide protection following chronic exposures to PAHs from the long-term consequences of DNA adduct formation, such as cancer. Alternatively, reduced metabolism and elimination of toxic or photo-activated PAHs could have acute consequences to the health and reproduction of these DLC-resistant fish and their progeny. These fish populations provide useful models to evaluate the potential costs and benefits of genetic adaptation in wildlife populations subject to anthropogenic stress.

Biomarkers and bioassays for detecting dioxin-like compounds in the marine environment

The presence of toxic chemical contaminants in some marine organisms, including those consumed by humans, is well known. Monitoring the levels of such contaminants and their geographic and temporal variability is important for assessing and maintaining the safety of seafood and the health of the marine environment. Chemical analyses are sensitive and specific, but can be expensive and provide little information on the actual or potential biological activity of the contaminants. Biologically-based assays can be used to indicate the presence and potential effects of contaminants in marine animals, and therefore, have potential for routine monitoring of the marine environment. Halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons (HAHs) such as chlorinated dioxins, dibenzofurans, and biphenyls comprise a major group of marine contaminants. The most toxic HAHs (dioxin-like compounds) act through an intracellular receptor protein, the aryl hydrocarbon receptor, which is present in humans and many, but not all, marine animals. A toxic equivalency approach based on an understanding of this mechanism provides an integrated measure of the biological potency or activity of HAH mixtures. Biomarkers measured in marine animals indicate their exposure to these chemicals in vivo. Similarly, in vitro biomarker responses measured in cell culture bioassays can be used to assess the concentration of 'dioxin equivalents' in extracts of environmental matrices. Here, I have reviewed the types and relative sensitivities of mechanistically-based, in vitro bioassays for dioxin-like compounds, including assays of receptor-binding, DNA-binding and transcriptional activation of native (CYP1A) or reporter (luciferase) genes. Examples of their use in environmental monitoring are provided. Cell culture bioassays are rapid and inexpensive, and thus have great potential for routine monitoring of marine resources, including seafood. Several such assays exist, or are being developed, for a variety of marine contaminants in addition to the dioxin-like chemicals. A battery of cell culture bioassays might be used to rapidly and sensitively screen seafood for the presence of contaminants of concern, including dioxin-like compounds as well as other contaminants such as natural toxins, hormonally active agents, and heavy metals. Such a battery of mechanism-based, in vitro bioassays could be incorporated into monitoring efforts under recently adopted hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) programs.

Regulatory interactions among three members of the vertebrate aryl hydrocarbon receptor family: AHR repressor, AHR1, and AHR2

The effects of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) and related compounds occur via the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), a member of the basic helix-loop-helix-Per-ARNT-Sim homology (bHLH-PAS) protein superfamily. A single AHR gene has been identified in mammals, whereas many fish species, including the Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) possess two distinct AHR genes (AHR1 and a novel form, AHR2). A mouse bHLH-PAS protein closely related to AHR and designated AHR repressor (AHRR) is induced by 3-methylcholanthrene and represses the transcriptional activity of the AHR. To determine whether AHRR is the mammalian ortholog of fish AHR2 and to investigate the mechanisms by which AHRR regulates AHR function, we cloned an AHRR ortholog in F. heteroclitus with high sequence identity to the mouse and human AHRRs. Killifish AHRR encodes a 680-residue protein with a predicted molecular mass of 75.2 kDa. We show that in vitro expressed AHRR proteins from human, mouse, and killifish all fail to bind [(3)H]TCDD or [(3)H]beta-naphthoflavone. In transient transfection experiments using a luciferase reporter gene under control of AHR response elements, killifish AHRR inhibited the TCDD-dependent transactivation function of both AHR1 and AHR2. AHRR mRNA is widely expressed in killifish tissues and is inducible by TCDD or polychlorinated biphenyls, but its expression is not altered in a population of fish exhibiting genetic resistance to these compounds. The F. heteroclitus AHRR promoter contains three putative AHR response elements. Both AHR1 and AHR2 activated transcription of luciferase driven by the AHRR promoter, and AHRR could repress its own promoter. Thus, AHRR is an evolutionarily conserved, TCDD-inducible repressor of AHR1 and AHR2 function. Phylogenetic analysis shows that AHRR, AHR1, and AHR2 are distinct genes, members of an AHR gene family; these three vertebrate AHR-like genes descended from a single invertebrate AHR.

Cytochrome P4501A1 is induced by PCB 77 and benzo[a]pyrene treatment but not by exposure to the Hudson River environment in Atlantic tomcod (Microgadus tomcod) post-yolk sac larvae

In fish, the embryos and larvae are the life-stages most sensitive to damage from environmentally borne dioxin-like compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Methods are not routinely available to measure the body burdens of contaminants in embryos and larvae, thus precluding the investigation of links between exposure and biological effects. Quantification of expression of cytochrome P4501A1 (CYP1A1) provides an index of relative exposure of natural populations to bioavailable aromatic hydrocarbons (AH) and an initial evaluation of their biological effects. We developed a quantitative approach to standardize total RNA loading and then used competitive reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to quantify the CYP1A1 mRNA expression in environmentally exposed Atlantic tomcod (Microgadus tomcod) post yolk-sac larvae (postlarvae) from the Hudson River, New York, and in chemically treated postlarval offspring of controlled laboratory crosses of Hudson River parents. Significant induction of CYP1A1 expression was observed in tomcod postlarvae exposed to waterborne 3,3',4,4'-tetrachlorobiphenyl (PCB 77) (four-fold) and benzo[a]-pyrene (eight-fold) compared with vehicle-exposed controls. In contrast, CYP1A1 was not induced in Hudson River-exposed postlarvae compared with vehicle-exposed controls. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using competitive RT-PCR for the measurement of gene expression in environmentally exposed larvae of sentinel species, and is consistent with the hypothesis that postlarvae exposed to the Hudson River environment have not bioaccumulated sufficient levels of AHs to induce CYP1A1 expression. The high levels of hepatic CYP1A1 mRNA expression previously reported in 5-8 month old juvenile tomcod from the Hudson River coincides with their descent to the benthic habitat and the onset of independent feeding on AH-contaminated benthic prey.