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Cardiac myocyte-specific AHR activation phenocopies TCDD-induced toxicity in zebrafish.

ABSTRACT: Exposure of zebrafish embryos to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) activates the zebrafish aryl hydrocarbon receptor 2 (AHR) to produce developmental and cardiovascular toxicity. AHR is found in the heart; however, AHR activation by TCDD is not confined to the heart and occurs throughout the organism. In order to understand the cause of cardiotoxicity, we constructed a constitutively active AHR (caAHR) based on the zebrafish AHR2 and expressed it specifically in cardiomyocytes. We show that AHR activation within the cardiomyocytes can account for the heart failure induced by TCDD. Expression of the caAHR within the heart produced cardiac malformations, loss of circulation, and pericardial edema. The heart-specific activation of AHR reproduced several other well-characterized endpoints of TCDD toxicity outside of the cardiovascular system, including defects in swim bladder and craniofacial development. This work identifies a single cellular site of TCDD action, the myocardial cell, that can account for the severe cardiovascular collapse observed following early life stage exposure to TCDD, and contributes to other forms of toxicity.

SUBMITTER: Lanham KA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4271120 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Cardiac myocyte-specific AHR activation phenocopies TCDD-induced toxicity in zebrafish.

Lanham Kevin A KA Plavicki Jessica J Peterson Richard E RE Heideman Warren W

Toxicological sciences : an official journal of the Society of Toxicology 20140718 1

Exposure of zebrafish embryos to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) activates the zebrafish aryl hydrocarbon receptor 2 (AHR) to produce developmental and cardiovascular toxicity. AHR is found in the heart; however, AHR activation by TCDD is not confined to the heart and occurs throughout the organism. In order to understand the cause of cardiotoxicity, we constructed a constitutively active AHR (caAHR) based on the zebrafish AHR2 and expressed it specifically in cardiomyocytes. We show ...[more]

PMID: 25037585

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Project description:The Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor (AhR) is a transcription factor that, when activated by ligand-binding, has been shown to regulate the immune response. Pertussis Toxin (PTX) is a virulence factor found in Bordetella pertussis, a human respiratory pathogen that causes whooping cough. PTX promotes colonization and disease promotion by triggering a heightened inflammatory response. The role of AhR in the regulation of PTX-mediated inflammation has not previously been studied. In the current study, we investigate if AhR activation by 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), a well characterized ligand, can attenuate PTX-mediated systemic inflammation. To that end, C57BL/6 mice were injected intraperitoneally (IP) with PTX twice and treated with TCDD or vehicle (VEH). The PTX+VEH group showed elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-17A, IL-6, and IFN?) in serum and increased proportions of CD4+ Th1 and Th17 cells in their spleens. In contrast, the PTX+TCDD group showed significantly lower levels of these inflammatory cytokines and decreased proportions of Th1 and Th17 cells, but increased proportions of Th2 and FoxP3+Tregs when compared to the PTX+VEH group. PTX+TCDD treated mice also showed elevated levels of IL-10, and TFG-b, potent anti-inflammatory cytokines. MicroRNAs (miRs) analysis of CD4+ T cells from the spleens of the PTX+TCDD treated mice revealed significant alterations in their expression and several of these miRs targeted cytokines and signaling molecules involved in inflammation. Specifically, the PTX+TCDD group had a significantly enhanced expression of miR-3082-5p that targeted IL-17, and a decreased expression of miR-1224-5p, which targeted FoxP3. Transfection studies with these miR mimics and inhibitors confirmed the specificity of the target genes. The current study suggests that AhR activation by TCDD suppresses PTX-induced inflammation through miR regulation that triggers reciprocal polarization of Tregs and Th17 cells and also suggests that AhR activation may serve as a treatment modality to suppress heightened inflammation induced during B. pertussis infection.

Project description:Exposure to environmental contaminants can disrupt normal development of the early vertebrate skeleton. 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) impairs craniofacial skeletal development across many vertebrate species and its effects are especially prominent in early life stages of fish. TCDD activates the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), a transcription factor that mediates most if not all TCDD responses. We investigated the transcriptional response in the developing zebrafish jaw following TCDD exposure using DNA microarrays. Zebrafish larvae were exposed to TCDD at 96 h postfertilization (hpf) and jaw cartilage tissue was harvested for microarray analysis at 1, 2, 4 and 12 h postexposure (hpe). Numerous chondrogenic transcripts were misregulated by TCDD in the jaw. Comparison of transcripts altered by TCDD in jaw with transcripts altered in embryonic heart showed that the transcriptional responses in the jaw and the heart were strikingly different. Sox9b, a critical chondrogenic transcription factor, was the most significantly reduced transcript in the jaw. We hypothesized that the TCDD reduction of sox9b expression plays an integral role in affecting formation of the embryonic jaw. Morpholino knock down of sox9b expression demonstrated that partial reduction of sox9b expression alone was sufficient to produce a TCDD-like jaw phenotype. Heterozygous sox9b deletion mutant embryos were sensitized to TCDD. Lastly, embryos injected with sox9b mRNA and then exposed to TCDD blocked TCDD-induced jaw toxicity in approximately 14% of sox9b-injected embryos. These results suggest that reduced sox9b expression in TCDD-exposed zebrafish embryos contributes to jaw malformation. Experiment Overall Design: Three independent replicate microarray time course experiments were performed comparing transcript levels between TCDD-exposed and control zebrafish. For each experiment, zebrafish were exposed to TCDD for 1 h starting at 96 hpf as described above. For each time point (97, 98, 100 and 108 hpf) and treatment jaw samples were pooled from 10 dissections for RNA isolation and hybridization with Affymetrix zebrafish arrays (Affymetrix, Santa Clara, CA). Each microarray contains roughly 14,900 probes corresponding to approximately 30% of the zebrafish genome. For each array, total RNA (1 Âµg) was isolated from 10 jaw microdissections with the QIAGEN RNeasy Mini kit following the manufacturerâs protocol (QIAGEN, Valencia, CA). The One-Cycle Target Labeling and Control Reagents kit was used to synthesize cDNA and biotinylated cRNA following the manufacturerâs protocol (Affymetrix, Santa Clara, CA). Biotin-labeled cRNA (15 Âµg) was fragmented and hybridized onto Affymetrix Zebrafish Genechip Arrays following the protocol in the Affymetrix Genechip Expression Analysis Technical Manual. Following hybdrization, the arrays were washed and stained with streptavidin-phycoerythrin on an Affymetrix Fluidics Station 400 using the protocol EukGE WS2v4. Arrays were scanned with an Agilent Gene Array Scanner.

Dataset Information

Cardiac myocyte-specific AHR activation phenocopies TCDD-induced toxicity in zebrafish.

Publications

Cardiac myocyte-specific AHR activation phenocopies TCDD-induced toxicity in zebrafish.

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