Effect of atrazine and chlorpyrifos exposure on heat shock protein response in the brain of common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.)

Abstract

Atrazine (ATR) and chlorpyrifos (CPF) are the most common pesticides found in freshwater ecosystems throughout the world. In the present study, the common carps were exposed to ATR, CPF and their mixture as describe in Table 1. Then we investigated the HSPs (HSP60, HSP70 and HSP90) expression in the brain of common carp by western blot and real-time PCR. Results indicated that HSP60 and HSP70 were significantly increased as compared to corresponding controls after 40 d exposure (P<0.05). While the increased expression levels of HSP90 in exposure groups was only observed at 4.28μg/L ATR group and 1.16μg/L CPF group, and after 40 d recovery, the expression levels of HSP90 were higher than most of exposure groups (P<0.05). It was suggested that the increased gene expression of HSPs was possible to protect injured cell mass caused by ATR, CPF and their mixture exposure. The present results provided new insights into the mechanisms used by fish to adapt to stressful environments.