Publication Abstract

Development of a stickleback in vitro assay for the rapid screening of (anti-)androgenic environmental contaminants

C. Jolly, I. Katsiadaki, N. Le Belle, I. Mayer and S. Dufour

There is an increasing concern over the impact of environmental contaminants that are able to mimic or antagonize the action of androgenic steroid hormones. However, few screening methods have been developed for the identification of such chemicals. The stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) is the only non-mammalian vertebrate with a biochemical androgenic endpoint, namely the production of the protein spiggin by kidney cells in response to androgenic stimulation. In the present study, we report the development of an novel in vitro assay, based on stickleback kidney cell primary culture, for the rapid and sensitive screening of (anti-)androgenic chemicals. All the androgens tested induced an increase in spiggin protein cell content after 48 hours treatment only as measured by ELISA. Kidney cells appeared more sensitive to Dihydrotestosterone than to the teleost specific androgen 11-Ketotestosterone (11KT) or Testosterone. Non-androgenic steroid or thyroid hormones did not induce spiggin production, thus assessing the androgen specificity of our model. In accordance with in vivo data, the synthetic anabolic steroid, Trenbolone, was able to induce an increase in spiggin cell content while the androgen receptor antagonist, Flutamide, inhibited 11KT-induced spiggin production in a dose-dependent manner. The present results demonstrate that kidney cell primary culture is very promising as initial screening tool and further promote the stickleback as a unique bio-indicator species.

Reference:

C. Jolly, I. Katsiadaki, N. Le Belle, I. Mayer, S. Dufour (2006) Development of a stickleback in vitro assay for the rapid screening of (anti-)androgenic environmental contaminants.. 23rd Conference of European Comparative Endocrinologists, Manchester, UK, September 2006