Pascale Berckmans

Immunolocalization of Na+, K+-ATPase in the gill epithelium of rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss

Abstract.The Na+,K+-ATPase (the sodium pump) plays a crucial role in ion transport in the fish gill. An immunocytochemical method has been optimized, using the mouse monoclonal antibody IgG α5, raised against the αsubunit of the avian sodium pump, to localize Na+,K+-ATPase in fish gill cells. The method appears to be successful for the immunolocalization of Na+,K+-ATPase in both paraffin-embedded gill tissue sections and primary cultures of fish gill epithelial cells. The immunostaining has demonstrated that Na+,K+-ATPase-positive cells are mainly localized on the primary lamellae, in the interlamellar region, which is in agreement with the distribution of ion-transporting cells, also called chloride cells, as shown by electron microscopy. Na+,K+-ATPase-positive cells have been demonstrated for the first time in primary cultures of gill epithelial cells. Comparative labeling studies of primary cultures have shown that sites of Na+,K+-ATPase-positive cells correspond to sites of cells labeled with dimethylaminostyrylmethyl-pyridiniumiodine, a fluorescent mitochondrial probe for ion-transporting cells. The immunocytochemical detection method for Na+,K+-ATPase in cells is proposed as an easy and specific Na+-transport-related method to characterize and localize ion-transporting cells in primary cultures and in tissue sections of fish gill epithelium.

Optimization and prevalidation of the in vitro ERα CALUX method to test estrogenic and antiestrogenic activity of compounds

Estrogenicity of chemicals has received significant attention and is linked to endocrine-disrupting activities. However, there is a paucity of validated methods to assess estrogenicity in vitro. We have established a robust method to test estrogenic and antiestrogenic activity of compounds in vitro, as an alternative to using animal models such as the uterotrophic assay. To this end we optimized protocols to be used in combination with CALUX reporter gene assays and carried out an in house prevalidation, followed by two rounds of tests to establish transferability. Problems in the initial test with transferability were solved by isolation of a novel cell clone of the ERalpha CALUX line with greatly improved stability and luciferase levels. This cell line proved to be a very suitable and reliable predictor of estrogenicity of chemicals and was able to readily rank a range of chemicals on the basis of their EC50 values.

The assessment of estrogenic or anti-estrogenic activity of chemicals by the human stably transfected estrogen sensitive MELN cell line: Results of test performance and transferability

The need for development and validation of in vitro hormone receptor transactivation assays as important alternative tools to study interactions with sex hormone receptors is outlined by international organisations, as such assays should be included in the OECD conceptual framework for the testing and assessment of endocrine active chemicals. Therefore as part of the European Union (EU)-sponsored 6th framework project ReProTect, the validation study with MELN cells, MCF-7 cells (ER+, estrogen receptor positive) which were stably transfected with the estrogen responsive gene ERE-betaGlob-Luc-SVNeo was set up. Standard operating procedures including a prescreen assay for unknown chemicals, an ER-agonist assay and an ER-antagonist assay were developed at the Flemish Institute for Technological Research, Belgium, and successfully transferred to Bayer Schering Pharma AG, Germany. Test results were obtained for 16 chemicals, and it was demonstrated that the MELN assay is transferable, robust and reproducible which allowed to rank chemical compounds according to their strong to weak affinity for the estrogen-alpha receptor, or identify negative chemicals within the test range up to 10(-5)M. Besides the screening for agonism, we demonstrated the suitability of MELN cells to test for antagonistic activity, which is of added value compared to current validated assays. As the MELN assay successfully passed the first modules of the ECVAM validation procedure, it now should be considered for further steps including the definition of a prediction model and application domain to get it accepted as an alternative screening assay, contributing to the 3Rs with a reduction of animal experiments.

Comparison of different androgen bioassays in the screening for environmental (anti)androgenic activity

Endocrine disruptors pose a growing threat to human and wildlife health. Validated test systems are required to study the mechanisms by which chemicals may interfere with the endocrine system. In order to identify compounds with (anti)androgenic activity, we used several in vitro bioassays, based on different androgen receptor (AR) functions, including AR transactivation and interaction between the amino-terminal domain and the ligand-binding domain. The AR activity assay, based on activation of the transcription of an androgen-responsive reporter gene in the presence of androgen, proved to excel in terms of high fold induction range and low minimal detection limit. The EC50 value, defined as the concentration that leads to half the maximal response and reflecting the potency of the synthetic androgen R1881 (methyltrienolone), was found to be 250 pM, consistent with the high affinity of this ligand to the human AR. A number of environmental samples were tested in the bioassay. The bioassay also could be used to detect antiandrogenic activity, because known AR-antagonists were able to inhibit R1881-mediated transactivation.

Phenotypic and biomarker evaluation of zebrafish larvae as an alternative model to predict mammalian hepatotoxicity

Zebrafish phenotypic assays have shown promise to assess human hepatotoxicity, though scoring of liver morphology remains subjective and difficult to standardize. Liver toxicity in zebrafish larvae at 5 days was assessed using gene expression as the biomarker approach, complementary to phenotypic analysis and analytical data on compound uptake. This approach aimed to contribute to improved hepatotoxicity prediction, with the goal of identifying biomarker(s) as a step towards the development of transgenic models for prioritization. Morphological effects of hepatotoxic compounds (acetaminophen, amiodarone, coumarin, methapyrilene and myclobutanil) and saccharin as the negative control were assessed after exposure in zebrafish larvae. The hepatotoxic compounds induced the expected zebrafish liver degeneration or changes in size, whereas saccharin did not have any phenotypic adverse effect. Analytical methods based on liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry were optimized to measure stability of selected compounds in exposure medium and internal concentration in larvae. All compounds were stable, except amiodarone for which precipitation was observed. There was a wide variation between the levels of compound in the zebrafish larvae with a higher uptake of amiodarone, methapyrilene and myclobutanil. Detection of hepatocyte markers (CP, CYP3A65, GC and TF) was accomplished by in situ hybridization of larvae to coumarin and myclobutanil and confirmed by real‐time reverse transcription–quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Experiments showed decreased expression of all markers. Next, other liver‐specific biomarkers (i.e. FABP10a and NR1H4) and apoptosis (i.e. CASP‐3 A and TP53) or cytochrome P450‐related (CYP2K19) and oxidoreductase activity‐related (ZGC163022) genes, were screened. Links between basic mechanisms of liver injury and results of biomarker responses are described. Copyright