Project description:Microcystin-LR (MC-LR), the most toxic member of microcystin family, inhibits protein phosphatase PP2A, triggers oxidative stress and induces hepatotoxicity. Gene expression profiling of MC-LR treated larvae using DNA microarray analysis revealed effects in the retinal visual cycle and pigmentation synthesis pathways that have not been previously associated with MC-LR. Liver-related genes were also differentially expressed. The microarray data were confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR. Our findings provide new evidence that microcystin-LR exposure of zebrafish larvae modulates the retinal visual cycle and pigmentation synthesis pathways and ultimately alter larval zebrafish behavior
Project description:Inflammation is a key component of pathological angiogenesis. Here we induce cornea neovascularisation using sutures placed into the cornea, and sutures are removed to induce a regression phase. We used whole transcriptome microarray to monitor gene expression profies of several genes
Project description:Elevated levels of adsorbable organic bromine compounds (AOBr) have been detected in German lakes, and cyanobacteria like Microcystis, which are known for the synthesis of microcystins, are one of the main producers of natural organobromines. However, very little is known about how environmental realistic concentrations of organobromines impact invertebrates. Here, the nematode C. elegans was exposed to AOBr-containing surface water samples and to a Microcystis aeruginosa enriched batch culture (MC-BA) and compared to single organobromines and microcystin-LR exposures. Stimulatory effects were observed in certain life trait variables, which were particularly pronounced in nematodes exposed to MC-BA. A whole genome DNA-microarray revealed that MC-BA led to the differential expression of more than 2000 genes, many of which are known to be involved in metabolic, neurologic, and morphologic processes. Moreover, the up-regulation of cyp- and the down-regulation of abu-genes suggested the presence of chronic stress. However, the nematodes were not marked by negative phenotypic responses. The observed difference in MC-BA and microcystin-LR (which impacted lifespan, growth and reproduction) exposed nematodes was hypothesized to be likely due to other compounds within the batch culture. Most likely the exposure to low concentrations of organobromines appears to buffer the effects of toxic substances, like microcystin-LR.
Project description:We report microcystin-LR, a cyclic heptapeptide that acts as a potent hepatotoxin and carcinogen, was used to induce the malignant transformation of the WRL-68 cell line and alterations in microRNA (miRNA) expression in the transformed cells.
Project description:Zebrafish (Danio rerio) were obtained from the Zebrafish Research Facility maintained in the Center for Environmental Biotechnology at the University of Tennessee. Fish husbandry, spawning, and experimental procedures were conducted with approval from the University of Tennessee Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (Protocol #1690-1007). Water for holding fish and conducting experiments (hereafter referred to as fish water) consisted of MilliQ water (Millipore, Bedford, MA) with ions added: 19 mg/L NaHCO3, 1 mg/L sea salt (Instant Ocean Synthetic Sea Salt, Mentor, OH), 10 mg/L CaSO4, 10 mg/L MgSO4, 2 mg/L KCl. Embryos were obtained by spawning adult fish with no history of contaminant exposure. Fertilization of embryos took place at the same time (± 15 min.), such that larvae used in experiments were of similar age at the time of exposure. All activities (maintenance of adult fish, spawning, and experiments) were conducted in an environmental chamber with a temperature of 27± 1 ºC and 14:10h light:dark photoperiod. Experiment Overall Design: At 72 h post-fertilization, zebrafish larvae were exposed to lyophilized Microcystis and purified MC-LR at concentrations of 100 and 1,000 µg/L. Controls consisted of zebrafish system water (negative control) and zebrafish system water containing 0.05% ethanol (vehicle control). Larvae from both control groups as well as 100 µg/L MC-LR, 1,000 µg/L MC-LR, and lyophilized Microcystis were exposed in groups of 50 with three replicates and were sacrificed after 96 hours for total RNA extraction and subsequent microarray analysis. All larvae were exposed in beakers containing 100 ml of solution. Experiment Overall Design: Water samples for microcystin analysis and water quality measurements were taken during the experiment, and mortality and behavioral observations were recorded at 24-hour intervals. Microcystin analysis was conducted by protein phosphatase inhibition assay. Measured concentrations of microcystin-LR were 140 ± 12 SD (low concentration) and 1,703 ± 71 SD (high concentration). The concentration of microcystin-LR in the lyophilized Microcystis treatment was 4.5 µg/L. Water quality parameters measured included dissolved oxygen (6.7 mg/L), pH (6.9), total alkalinity (36 mg/L as CaCO3), total hardness (18 mg/L as CaCO3), and ammonia (<0.2 mg/L). No significant mortality or behavioral changes in larvae were observed during the exposure.
Project description:Human hepatocytes, HepaRG cells and HCC HepG2 cells were treated with 50nM of Microcystin-LR and cylindrospermopsin (CYN) to observe changes in gene expression.
Project description:Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) has over the last 10 years become the focus of increasing concern largely due to its rising incidence and high mortality rates worldwide. Microcystin-leucine-arginine (MC-LR) have been reported to be carcinogenic but there are no data on the linkage between MC-LR and iCCA. We used microarrays to detail the change of gene expression in iCCA cells(huh28) treated with MC-LR.