Meeting Abstract
Environmental xenoestrogens such as Bisphenol-A (BPA), BPS, and Octyl-phenol have been shown to depress and delay regeneration in a variety of flatworms at high doses, and to work in a non-monotonic fashion and stimulate regeneration at very low doses. These compounds are environmental pollutants used in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastics, thermal printing systems, detergents, health and beauty products, food packaging, epoxy resins and other industrial processes. Prior work in our lab has suggested that bisphenol compounds are interacting with an ER-like pathway in planaria. In vertebrate systems, weak estrogen receptor (ER) agonists like BPA are known to repress ER responses at high doses and increase ER responses at low doses in a manner very similar to the decrease and increase in growth we observe in regenerating planaria. Since regeneration involves both proliferation and cell movement, we hypothesized that cytoskeleton may be one of the mechanisms by which endocrine disruptors are affecting regeneration in flatworms.
