Alternative In Vitro Approach for Assessing AHR-Mediated CYP1A Induction by Dioxins in Wild Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) Population

Abstract

Our line of papers revealed that the common (great) cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) possesses two isoforms of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (ccAHR1 and ccAHR2). This paper addresses in vitro tests of the ccAHR signaling pathways to solve two questions: (1) whether there are functional differences in the two ccAHR isoforms, and (2) whether a molecular perturbation, cytochrome P450 1A (ccCYP1A) induction, in the population-level can be predicted from the in vitro tests. The transactivation potencies mediated by ccAHR1 and ccAHR2 were measured in COS-7 cells treated with 15 selected dioxins and related compounds (DRCs), where ccAHR1 or ccAHR2 expression plasmid and ccCYP1A5 promoter/enhancer-linked luciferase reporter plasmid were transfected. For congeners that exhibited dose-dependent luciferase activities, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) relative potencies (REPs) and induction equivalency factors (IEFs) were estimated. ccAHR1-IEF profile was similar to WHO avian TCDD toxic equivalency factor (TEF) profile except for dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls that showed lower IEFs in ccAHR1-driven reporter assay. ccAHR2-IEF profile was different from WHO TEFs and ccAHR1-IEFs. Notably, 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF was more potent than TCDD for ccAHR2-mediated response. Using ccAHR1- and ccAHR2-IEFs and hepatic DRC concentrations in the Lake Biwa cormorant population, total TCDD induction equivalents (IEQs) were calculated for each ccAHR-mediated response. Nonlinear regression analyses provided significant sigmoidal relationships of ccAHR1- and ccAHR2-derived IEQs with hepatic ccCYP1A5 mRNA levels, supporting the results of in vitro ccAHR-mediated TCDD dose-response curves. Collectively, our in vitro AHR reporter assay potentially could be an alternative to molecular epidemiology of the species of concern regarding CYP1A induction by AHR ligands.