Abstract
A total of 16 water samples from four rivers in Japan were examined for their agonistic activities against five human nuclear receptors (estrogen receptor [ER] α, thyroid hormone receptor α, retinoic acid receptor [RAR] α, retinoid X receptor α, and vitamin D receptor) by using a yeast two-hybrid assay. The results suggest that the river environment is contaminated with endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) that can interact with a variety of nuclear receptors and that contamination with those that have RAR agonistic activity may be more serious than contamination with well-known EDCs that act as ER agonists.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Chawla A, Repa JJ, Evans RM, Mangelsdorf DJ (2001) Nuclear receptors and lipid physiology: opening the X-files. Science 294:1866–1870. doi:10.1126/science.294.5548.1866
Degitz SJ, Holcombe GW, Kosian PA, Tietge JE, Durhan EJ, Ankley GT (2003) Comparing the effects of stage and duration of retinoic acid exposure on amphibian limb development: chronic exposure results in mortality, not limb malformations. Toxicol Sci 74:139–146. doi:10.1093/toxsci/kfg098
Gardiner D, Ndayibagira A, Grün F, Blumberg B (2003) Deformed frogs and environmental retinoids. Pure Appl Chem 75:2263–2273. doi:10.1351/pac200375112263
Hohenblum P, Gans O, Moche W, Schart S, Lorbeer G (2004) Monitoring of selected estrogenic hormones and industrial chemicals in groundwaters and surface waters in Austria. Sci Total Environ 333:185–193. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2004.05.009
Lemaire G, Balaguer P, Michel S, Rahmani R (2005) Activation of retinoic acid receptor-dependent transcription by organochlorine pesticides. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 202:38–49. doi:10.1016/j.taap.2004.06.004
Mulder GB, Manley N, Grant J, Schmidt K, Zeng W, Eckhoff C, Maggio-Price L (2000) Effects of excess vitamin A on development of cranial neural crest-derived structures: a neonatal and embryologic study. Teratology 62:214–226. doi:10.1002/1096-9926(200010)62:4<214::AID-TERA7>3.0.CO;2-N
Murata T, Yamauchi K (2008) 3,3′,5-Triiodo-l-thyronine-like activity in effluents from domestic sewage treatment plants detected by in vitro and in vivo bioassays. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 226:309–317. doi:10.1016/j.taap.2007.09.003
Nakanishi T, Nishikawa J, Hiromori Y, Yokoyama H, Koyanagi M, Takasuga S, Ishizaki J, Watanabe M, Isa S, Utoguchi N, Itoh N, Kohno Y, Nishihara T, Tanaka K (2005) Trialkyltin compounds bind retinoid X receptor to alter human placental endocrine functions. Mol Endocrinol 19:2502–2516. doi:10.1210/me.2004-0397
Nishikawa J, Saito K, Goto J, Dakeyama F, Matsuo M, Nishihara T (1999) New screening methods for chemicals with hormonal activities using interaction of nuclear hormone receptor with coactivator. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 154:76–83. doi:10.1006/taap.1998.8557
Nishikawa J, Mamiya S, Kanayama T, Nishihara T (2003) Effect of suspected endocrine disruptors on various kinds of nuclear hormone receptors. J Environ Biotechnol 3:37–42
Quirós L, Céspedes R, Lacorte S, Viana P, Raldúa D, Barceló D, Piña B (2004) Detection and evaluation of endocrine-disruption activity in water samples from Portuguese rivers. Environ Toxicol Chem 24:389–395. doi:10.1897/04-121R.1
Rothman KJ, Moore LL, Singer MR, Nguyen US, Mannino S, Milunsky A (1995) Teratogenicity of high vitamin A intake. N Engl J Med 333:1369–1373. doi:10.1056/NEJM199511233332101
Ternes TA, Kreckel P, Mueller J (1999) Behavior and occurrence of estrogens in municipal sewage treatment plants–II. Aerobic batch experiments with activated sludge. Sci Total Environ 225:91–99. doi:10.1016/S0048-9697(98)00335-0
Ueno D, Inoue S, Takahashi S, Ikeda K, Tanaka H, Subramanian AN, Fillmann G, Lam PK, Zheng J, Muchtar M, Prudente M, Chung K, Tanabe S (2004) Global pollution monitoring of butyltin compounds using skipjack tuna as a bioindicator. Environ Pollut 127:1–12. doi:10.1016/S0269-7491(03)00261-6
US EPA, United States Environmental Protection Agency (1997) Special report on environmental endocrine disruption: an effects assessment and analysis. US EPA Office of Research and Development, Washington DC
Acknowledgments
We thank Professor J. Nishikawa (School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Mukogawa Women’s University, Japan) for kindly providing the recombinant yeast for the NR binding affinity assays. This study was supported in part by the FY2008 Environmental Technology Development Fund from the Ministry of the Environment, Japan, and the Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B) 20760362 from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Inoue, D., Nakama, K., Matsui, H. et al. Detection of Agonistic Activities Against Five Human Nuclear Receptors in River Environments of Japan Using a Yeast Two-Hybrid Assay. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 82, 399–404 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-008-9616-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-008-9616-1