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Fish Connectivity Mapping: Linking Chemical Stressors by Their MOA-Driven Transcriptomic Profiles

ABSTRACT: Modeled on human connectivity mapping (Cmap), this study was undertaken to investigate the potential applications of Cmap approach in ecotoxicology. Over 3500 zebrafish (Danio rerio) and fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) transcriptomic profiles, each associated with one of several dozen chemical treatment conditions, were compiled into three distinct collections of rank-ordered gene lists (ROGLs) by species and microarray platforms. Individual query signatures, each consisting of multiple gene probes differentially expressed in a chemical condition, were used to interrogate the reference ROGLs. Informative connections were established at high success rates within species when, as defined by their mechanisms of action (MOAs), both query signatures and ROGLs were associated with the same or similar chemicals. In other words, a simple query signature functioned effectively as an exposure biomarker, without going through a typical time-consuming process of development and validation. More importantly, a large reference database of ROGLs also enabled a query signature to cross- interrogate other chemical conditions with overlapping MOAs, leading to novel groupings and subgroupings of seemingly unrelated chemicals at a finer resolution. This approach confirmed the identities of several estrogenic chemicals, as well as a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and a neuro-toxin, in the largely uncharacterized water samples near several waste water treatment plants, and thus demonstrates its future potential in real world applications. The power of Cmap should grow along with the chemical coverage of its ROGLs, making it a framework easily scalable in the future. For toxicity extrapolation across fish species, however, a sufficient number of GEPs linked to chemical conditions common to multiple fish species are needed next in order to conduct a more thorough feasibility study of interspecific Cmap.

ORGANISM(S): Pimephales promelas

PROVIDER: GSE70807 | GEO | 2017/01/08

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA289593

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Today, many contaminants of emerging concern can be measured in waters across the United States, including the tributaries of the Great Lakes. However, just because the chemicals can be measured does not mean that they necessarily result in harm to fish and other aquatic species. Complicating risk assessment in these waters is the fact that aquatic species are encountering the chemicals as mixtures, which may have additive or synergistic risks that cannot be calculated using single chemical hazard and concentration-response information. We developed an in vitro effects-based screening approach to help us predict potential liver toxicity and cancer in aquatic organisms using water from specific Great Lakes tributaries: St. Louis River (MN), Bad River (WI), Fox River (WI), Manitowoc River (WI), Milwaukee River (WI), Indiana Harbor Canal (IN), St. Joseph River (MI), Grand River (MI), Clinton River (MI), River Rouge (MI), Maumee River (OH), Vermilion River (OH), Cuyahoga River (OH), Genesee River (NY), and Oswego River (NY). We exposed HepG2 cells for 48hrs to medium spiked with either field collected water (final concentration of environmental samples in the exposure medium were 75% of the field-collected water samples) or purified water. Using a deep neural network we clustered our collection sites from each tributary based on water chemistry. We also performed high throughput transcriptomics on the RNA obtained from the HepG2 cells. We used the transcriptomics data with our Bayesian Inferene for Sustance and Chemical Toxicity (BISCT) Bayesian Network for Steatosis to predict the probability of the field samples yielding a gene expression pattern consistent with predicting steatosis as an outcome. Surprisingly, we found that the probability of steatosis did not correspond to the surface water chemistry clustering. Our analysis suggests that chemical signatures are not informative in predicting biological effects. Furthermore, recent reports published after we obtained our samples, suggest that chemical levels in the sediment may be more relevant for predicting potential biological effects in the fish species developing tumors in the Great Lakes basin.

Project description:Background: Development and application of transcriptomics-based gene classifiers for ecotoxicological applications lag far behind those of human biomedical science. Many such classifiers discovered thus far lack vigorous statistical and experimental validations, with their stability and reliability unknown. A combination of genetic algorithm/support vector machines and genetic algorithm/K nearest neighbors were used in this study to search for classifiers of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in zebrafish. Searches were conducted on both tissue-specific and all tissue combined datasets, either across the entire transcriptome or within individual transcription factor (TF) networks previously linked to EDC effects. Candidate classifiers were evaluated by gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) on both the original training data and a dedicated validation dataset. Results: Multi-tissue dataset yielded no classifiers. Among the 19 chemical-tissue conditions evaluated, the transcriptome-wide searches yielded classifiers for six of them, each having approximately 20 to 30 gene features unique to a condition. Searches within individual TF networks produced classifiers for 15 chemical-tissue conditions, each containing 100 or fewer top-ranked gene features pooled from those of multiple TF networks and also unique to each condition. For the training dataset, 10 out of 11 classifiers successfully identified the gene expression profiles (GEPs) of their intended chemical-tissue conditions by GSEA. For the validation dataset, classifiers for prochloraz-ovary and flutamide-ovary also correctly identified the GEPs of corresponding conditions while no classifier could predict the GEP from prochloraz-brain. Conclusions: The discrepancies in the performance of these classifiers were attributed in part to varying data complexity among the conditions, as measured to some degree by Fisher’s discriminant ratio statistic. This variation in data complexity could likely be compensated by adjusting sample size for individual chemical-tissue conditions, thus suggesting a need for a preliminary survey of transcriptomic responses before launching a full scale classifier discovery effort. While GSEA appeared to provide a flexible and effective tool for application of gene classifiers, a similar but more refined algorithm, connectivity mapping, should also be explored for ecotoxicological applications. The distribution characteristics of classifiers across tissues, chemicals, and TF networks suggested a differential biological impact among the EDCs on zebrafish transcriptome involving some basic cellular functions. chemical abbreviations: EE2, 17α-ethynyl estradiol; FAD, fadrozole; TRB, 17 -trenbolone; FIP, fipronil; PRO, prochloraz; FLU, flutamide; MUS, muscimol; KET, ketoconazole; TRI, trilostane; VIN, vinclozolin Since this study was conducted in several phases, three different version of Agilent zebrafish two color microarrays were used based on their availability at the time. These include G2518A (designID 013223) and G2519F (designID 015064, 019161). There were a total of 58 treatment conditions with various combinations of chemical, tissue type, exposure time, and gender. Each condition contained eight to 12 independent samples, half from chemical-treated fish and half from water- control fish.

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Fish Connectivity Mapping: Linking Chemical Stressors by Their MOA-Driven Transcriptomic Profiles

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