Temporal patterns of induction and recovery of biomarker transcriptional responses to 4‐Nonylphenol and 17β‐estradiol in the estuarine arrow goby, Clevelandia ios

• Published in: Environmental toxicology 2017-05, Vol.32 (5), p.1513-1529
• Main Authors: Johnson, Kaitlin M., Lema, Sean C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; biomarker; Biomarkers - metabolism; choriogenin; Clevelandia ios; endocrine disruption; Endocrine Disruptors - pharmacology; estradiol; Estradiol - pharmacology; estrogen receptor; Estuaries; estuary; Female; fish; Fishes - genetics; Fishes - metabolism; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental - drug effects; Liver - drug effects; Liver - metabolism; Male; nonylphenol; Phenols - pharmacology; Time Factors; vitellogenin; Vitellogenins - genetics; Water Pollutants, Chemical - pharmacology; xenoestrogen
• ISSN: 1520-4081; 1522-7278
• DOI: 10.1002/tox.22371

ABSTRACT Several estuaries along the Pacific Ocean coast of North America were identified recently as having elevated 4‐nonylphenol (4‐NP) in sediments and biota, raising concerns about reproductive impacts for wildlife given 4‐NP's established estrogenic activity as an endocrine‐disrupting compound. Here we characterize 4‐NP mediated induction and recovery of estrogen‐sensitive gene transcripts in the arrow goby (Clevelandia ios), an intertidal fish abundant in estuarine mud flats on the west coast of North America. Male gobies were exposed to waterborne 4‐NP at 10 μg/L or 100 μg/L for 20 days followed by a 20 day depuration period. Additional males were treated with 17β‐estradiol (E2; 50 ng/L). 4‐NP at 100 μg/L elevated hepatic mRNAs encoding vitellogenins A (vtgA) and C (vtgC) and choriogenin L (chgL) within 72 h, and choriogenin H minor (chgHm) within 12 days. Hepatic mRNAs encoding estrogen receptor alpha (esr1) were also elevated after 12 days of 4‐NP exposure, but returned to pre‐exposure levels at 20 days even under continuing 4‐NP treatment. 4‐NP did not alter mRNA levels of estrogen receptor gamma (esr2a) in the liver, or of esr1, esr2a, and cytochrome P450 aromatase B (cyp19a1b) in the brain. The temporal pattern of initial induction for hepatic vtgA, vtgC, and chgL transcripts by 4‐NP mirrored the pattern by E2, while chgHm and esr1 mRNA induction by 4‐NP lagged 2–11 days behind the responses of these transcripts to E2. These findings establish 4‐NP concentration‐ and time‐dependent induction patterns of choriogenin and vitellogenin transcription following exposure to environmentally relevant 4‐NP concentrations, while concurrently demonstrating tissue‐specific induction patterns for esr1 by estrogenic compounds. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol 32: 1513–1529, 2017.