Meeting Abstract

63.3  Saturday, Jan. 5  PROTEIN EXPRESSION SCREENING IN ENDOCRINE-DISRUPTED, CORTISOL-PRODUCING INTERRENAL TISSUE OF URBAN OCEAN FISH CAUSEY, D.R.*; REYES, J.A.; WAGGONER, C.M.; HAMILTON, A.W.; ARMSTRONG, J.L.; KELLEY, K.M.; California State Univ. Long Beach; Pacific Coast Environmental Conservancy; California State Univ. Long Beach; California State Univ. Long Beach; Orange County Sanitation District; California State Univ. Long Beach dwight.causey@gmail.com

Wild fish residing near wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in coastal southern California have previously been demonstrated to exhibit an endocrine-disrupted condition affecting function of the cortisol-producing interrenal, which is correlated with exposures of the fish to specific classes of environmental contaminants. Fish exhibiting this form of endocrine disruption do not activate a normal neuroendocrine response to stress. Studies of English sole indicate that interrenal response to ACTH is impaired when tested in vitro, and interrenal from these fish exhibit corresponding decreases in expression of steroidogenic mRNAs including steroidogenesis-activation regulator (StAR) and P450-11β hydroxylase. Using proteomics-based screening, interrenal proteomes were compared between control and endocrine-disrupted English sole captured from reference and WWTP locations, respectively. Analyses thus far reveal that nine proteins were negatively correlated with cortisol response (p<0.05), while twenty proteins were positively correlated (p<0.05). Identification of some of these proteins indicate alterations in expression of heat-shock protein 60 (HSP60), aldehyde dehydrogenase, peroxiredoxin, and malate dehydrogenase, suggesting responses including oxidative and cellular stress and altered cellular metabolism. Proteins were also identified that significantly correlated with cortisol response, which are candidate players in the disrupted interrenal condition. (Support from NOAA/USC Sea Grant Program in California).