Inflammation of gill epithelia in fish causes increased permeation of polar organic chemicals from OSPW via disruption of tight junctions
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ABSTRACT: The epithelial cell layer that lines the fish gill controls the paracellular permeation of chemicals through tight junctions. The integrity of tight junctions can be affected by inflammation, which is likely to impact the branchial bioavailability of chemicals. In this study, we experimentally induced inflammation in the rainbow trout gill cell line RTgill-W1 via exposure to bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPS). We then co-exposed the cells to extracts of oil sands process-affected water (OSPW), which contain a complex mixture of toxicologically relevant chemicals. Cells exposed to LPS showed a significant reduction in transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER), an indicator of tight junction integrity, after 24 h of exposure. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis determined that the abundance of transcripts of genes coding for tight junction proteins (Claudin 28b and 10e) was significantly decreased in cells exposed to 20, 50, and 100 mg L-1 LPS. Chemical analysis revealed a significant increase in permeation of constituents of OSPW across the gill cell epithelial layer at all studied LPS concentrations. These in vitro findings were confirmed in vivo in rainbow trout fingerlings exposed to both LPS and 10% OSPW for 48 h, which similarly resulted in an increase in chemical uptake relative to fish exposed to OSPW alone. This research demonstrated that inflammation of gill epithelia and the resulting disruption of tight junction integrity could lead to significantly greater uptake of potentially harmful chemicals from the environment, which has important implications for risk assessment.
Project description:The primary objective of this study was to determine if quantitative tPOD values could be derived from chemical exposure studies that followed OECD Test No. 249 (rainbow trout gill cell line) and expanding the assay to rainbow trout liver and intestinal epithelial cell lines. The secondary objective was to determine if tPOD values could be derived from similar studies on rainbow trout liver and gut cell lines. Methylmercury and fluoxetine were the test chemicals. From the resulting data, we compared tPOD data with literature-derived apical BMDs, characterized mechanisms of action through analysis of the transcriptomic data, and compared responses (cytotoxicity and transcriptomic) across the three cell types. By bringing together transcriptomics measurements and tPOD calculations with the OECD Test, and expanding the number of cell lines, we believe that this work can help establish a cost effective in vitro test method that can yield quantitative tPOD values that are protective of in vivo concentrations associated with adverse outcomes while also advancing knowledge of a test chemical’s mechanism of action.
Project description:RNAseq used to examine gene expression in thermal challenged redband rainbow trout RNAseq data obtained from libraries prepared from Gill RNA
Project description:Prymnesium parvum is regarded as one of the most notorious harmful algal bloom (HAB) species worldwide. In recent years, it has frequently formed toxic blooms in coastal and brackish waters of America, Europe, Australia, Africa and Asia, causing large-scale mortalities of wild and cultured fish and other gill-breathing animals. In the last decade, blooms of P. parvum have expanded to inland fresh waters in the USA, presumably due to changes in environmental conditions. The aim of the experiment was to establish the gill transcriptomic responses to P. parvum in rainbow trout. We used 2 different concentrations of P. parvum and identified fish with low and moderate responses to the algae. Based on the dose of and the fish response, fish were classified into 4 groups with high exposure/moderate response (HM), high exposure/low response (HL), low exposure/low response (LL) and control group (C) with no exposure/no response. Gene expression profiling of the gill tissue was performed using a microarray platform developed and validated for rainbow trout.
Project description:Background: Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) is a salmonid species with a complex life-history. Wild populations are naturally divided into freshwater residents and sea-run migrants. Migrants undergo an energy-demanding adaptation for life in seawater, known as smoltification, while freshwater residents display these changes in an attenuated magnitude and rate. Despite this, in seawater rainbow trout farming all animals are transferred to seawater. Under these circumstances, weeks after seawater transfer, a significant portion of the fish die (around 10%) or experience growth stunting (GS; around 10%), which represents an important profitability and welfare issue. The underlying causes leading to GS in seawater-transferred rainbow trout remain unknown. In this study, we aimed at characterising the GS phenotype in seawater-transferred rainbow trout using untargeted and targeted approaches. To this end, the liver proteome (LC-MS/MS) and lipidome (LC-MS) of GS and fast-growing phenotypes were profiled to identify molecules and processes that are characteristic of the GS phenotype. Moreover, the transcription, abundance or activity of key proteins and hormones related to osmoregulation (Gill Na+, K+–ATPase activity), growth (plasma IGF-I, and liver igf1, igfbp1b, ghr1 and ctsl) and stress (plasma cortisol) were measured using targeted approaches. Results: No differences in Gill Na+, K+–ATPase activity and plasma cortisol were detected between the two groups. However, a significant downregulation in plasma IGF-I and liver igf1 transcription pointed at this growth factor as an important pathomechanism for GS. Changes in the liver proteome revealed reactive-oxygen-species-mediated endoplasmic reticulum stress as a key mechanism underlying the GS phenotype. From the lipidomic analysis, key observations include a reduction in triacylglycerols and elevated amounts of cardiolipins, a characteristic lipid class associated with oxidative stress, in GS phenotype. Conclusion: While the triggers to the activation of endoplasmic reticulum stress are still unknown, data from this study point towards either an unresolved infection or a nutritional deficiency as underlying drivers of this phenotype.
Project description:The aim of this sequencing experiment was to make available tissue expression panels for selected fish species for comparative expression studies between the species. Tissue samples were collected for zebrafish (Danio rerio), medaka (Oryzias latipes), and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Tissue types included liver, skin, muscle, heart, gut, gill, eye, brain for all three species, with additionally pyloric caeca, kidney, head kidney, and spleen for rainbow trout. Only liver samples were taken in replicate of four or three for rainbow trout. All fish were raised under standard rearing conditions for the species. Total RNA was extracted from the tissue samples and paired‐end sequencing of sample libraries was completed on an Illumina HiSeq 2500 with 125‐bp reads. Processed count tables per species as raw counts, FPKM, or TPM, were generated from read alignment to the Ensembl genomes of the respective species using STAR and gene level counting using RSEM and Ensembl gene annotation.
Project description:Inflammation of gill epithelia in fish causes increased permeation of polar organic chemicals from OSPW via disruption of tight junctions
Project description:There is growing scientific and regulatory interest in transcriptomic points of departure (tPOD) values from in vitro experiments as an alternative to animal test method. The objective of this study was to calculate tPOD values in rainbow trout gill cells (RTgill-W1 following OECD 249) exposed to 20 pesticides, and to evaluate how these values compare to fish acute and chronic toxicity data from the ECOTOX database. Cells were exposed to one fungicide (chlorothalonil), ten herbicides (atrazine, glyphosate, imazethapyr, metolachlor, diquat, s-metolachlor, AMPA, dicamba, dimethenamid-P, metribuzin), eight insecticides (chlorpyrifos, diazinon, permethrin, carbaryl, clothianidin, imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, chlorantraniliprole), and OECD 249 positive control 3,4-dichloroaniline. Sequencing libraries were prepared with UPXome, and tPODs calculated with ExpressAnalyst. The method identified 44,262 unique genes, with 1,115 genes having >5 counts in the 576 samples sequenced. For all chemicals, tPODs were derived and tPOD mode values ranged from 0.003 to 141µM with an average of 37µM. There were significant correlations between these tPOD mode values (x-value) and in vitro cytotoxicity EC50s from RTgill-W1 cells (y=1.1x+0.89, R2=0.85, p<0.001; n=11), rainbow trout acute toxicity LC50s (y=0.9x+0.59, R2=0.56, p<0.001; n=20), fish chronic sub-lethal effect concentrations (y=0.62x+0.38, R2=0.36, p=0.01; n=16) and fish chronic lethal effect concentrations (y=0.77x-0.28, R2=0.57, p=0.002; n=14). Bland–Altman plot statistical analyses of these comparisons also showed good agreement. Overall, these data demonstrate that tPOD values can be derived from an experimental platform that links together elements of OECD 249 with a transcriptomic method with high throughput potential. The findings support the notion that tPODs from short-term in vitro studies may be comparable to effect concentration data from in vivo studies of fish exposed for chronic durations.
Project description:Rainbow trout (1000 fish) was exposed to the bacterial pathogen F. psychrophilum by simple bath challenge without any pre-treatment with hydrogen peroxide. Samples (fin clip for Affymetrix QTL analysis) were taken from 167 moribund fish during the course of infection. When mortality/morbidity ended (day 40) we euthanized a total of 197 specimens of the remaining fish and took samples for DNA (QTL analysis) and assigned the status: Survivor. For gene expression analysis we took samples from gill, spleen and liver between day 11 and 15 from fish with clinical signs (CS) and no clinical signs (NCS), whereas samples from survivors were taken at day 40.
Project description:Total RNA was extracted from V. angularium susceptible and resistant rainbow trout, tissues (liver, spleen, gill), in different time points using GenEluteTM mammalian RNA kit (RTN350, Sigma-Aldrich, Denmark). After measuring quantity (NanoDrop 2000 spectrophotometer (Saveen & Werner, Denmark)) and quality (gel electrophoresis) of RNA, cDNA was synthetised in T100 thermocycler, Biorad, Denmark, using Oligo d(T)16 primer and TaqMan® Reverse Transcription Reagents (cat.no. N8080234, Thermo Fischer Scientific, Denmark). Primers and probes for total of 28 genes including three housekeeping genes were synthesized at TAG Copenhagen AS, Denmark. qPCR reactions were run by Brilliant III Ultra-Fast QPCR Master Mix (600881, AH Diagnostics AS, Denmark) for all samples. The fold changes analysed by the simplified 2-ΔΔCq method. Fingerlings of rainbow trout (mean body weight of 12 g) were exposed (2 h bathing, 18°C) to the pathogen V. anguillarum serotype O1 in a solution of 1.5x107 cfu/ml and observed for 14 d. Disease signs appeared three days post exposure (dpe) whereafter morbidity progressed exponentially until 6 dpe reaching a total morbidity/mortality of 55% within 11 days. we sampled fish for immune gene expression analysis when they first showed clinical signs, fish without clinical signs at the same time point and finally fish surviving the exposure to the pathogen. The different immune gene expression profiles in the different groups were addressed when discussing possible resistance mechanisms in rainbow trout.
Project description:Investigation of transcriptome expression changes in liver tissue of rainbow trout exposed beclomethasone diproprionate (1 µg/L nominal concentration) in a flow through set up for 2 weeks