Differences on the level of hepatic transcriptome between two flatfish species in response to liver cancer and environmental pollution levels
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Kuupäev
2023
Kättesaadav alates
Ajakirja pealkiri
Ajakirja ISSN
Köite pealkiri
Kirjastaja
Elsevier
Abstrakt
Environmental factors can cause cancer in both wild animals and humans. In ecological settings, genetic variation
and natural selection can sometimes produce resilience to the negative impacts of environmental change.
An increase in oncogenic substances in natural habitats has therefore, unintentionally, created opportunities for
using polluted habitats to study cancer defence mechanisms. The Baltic and North Sea are among the most
contaminated marine areas, with a long history of pollution. Two flatfish species (flounder, Platichthys flesus and
dab, Limanda limanda) are used as ecotoxicological indicator species due to pollution-induced liver cancer.
Cancer is more prevalent in dab, suggesting species-specific differences in vulnerability and/or defence mechanisms.
We conducted gene expression analyses for 30 flatfishes. We characterize between- and within-species
patterns in potential cancer-related mechanisms. By comparing cancerous and healthy fishes, and noncancerous
fishes from clean and polluted sites, we suggest also genes and related physiological mechanisms
that could contribute to a higher resistance to pollution-induced cancer in flounders. We discovered changes in
transcriptome related to elevated pollutant metabolism, alongside greater tumour suppression mechanisms in the
liver tissue of flounders compared to dabs. This suggests either hormetic upregulation of tumour suppression or a
stronger natural selection pressure for higher cancer resistance for flounders in polluted environment. Based on
gene expression patterns seen in cancerous and healthy fish, for liver cancer to develop in flounders, genetic
defence mechanisms need to be suppressed, while in dabs, analogous process is weak or absent. We conclude that
wild species could offer novel insights and ideas for understanding the nature and evolution of natural cancer
defence mechanisms.
We are grateful to the crew of RW Walther Herwig III for all-round help during the fieldwork. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 951963.
We are grateful to the crew of RW Walther Herwig III for all-round help during the fieldwork. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 951963.
Kirjeldus
Märksõnad
cancer defence mechanisms, cancer evolution, fish cancer, liver cancer, pollution-induced cancer, transcriptome, wildlife cancer genetics, articles