Harnessing microbial phylum-specific molecular markers for assessment of environmental estrogen degradation.

Steroidal estrogens are ubiquitous contaminants that have garnered attention worldwide due to their endocrine-disrupting and carcinogenic activities at sub-nanomolar concentrations. Microbial degradation is one of the main mechanisms through which estrogens can be removed from the environment. Numerous bacteria have been isolated and identified as estrogen degraders; however, little is known about their contribution to environmental estrogen removal. Here, our global metagenomic analysis indicated that estrogen degradation genes are widely distributed among bacteria, especially among aquatic actinobacterial and proteobacterial species. Thus, by using the Rhodococcus sp. strain B50 as the model organism, we identified three actinobacteria-specific estrogen degradation genes, namely aedGHJ, by performing gene disruption experiments and metabolite profile analysis. Among these genes, the product of aedJ was discovered to mediate the conjugation of coenzyme A with a unique actinobacterial C17 estrogenic metabolite, 5-oxo-4-norestrogenic acid. However, proteobacteria were found to exclusively adopt an α-oxoacid ferredoxin oxidoreductase (i.e., the product of edcC) to degrade a proteobacterial C18 estrogenic metabolite, namely 3-oxo-4,5-seco-estrogenic acid. We employed actinobacterial aedJ and proteobacterial edcC as specific biomarkers for quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to elucidate the potential of microbes for estrogen biodegradation in contaminated ecosystems. The results indicated that aedJ was more abundant than edcC in most environmental samples. Our results greatly expand the understanding of environmental estrogen degradation. Moreover, our study suggests that qPCR-based functional assays are a simple, cost-effective, and rapid approach for holistically evaluating estrogen biodegradation in the environment.

Circulating androgen regulation by androgen-catabolizing gut bacteria in male mouse gut.

Abnormally high circulating androgen levels have been considered a causative factor for benign prostatic hypertrophy and prostate cancer in men. Recent animal studies on gut microbiome suggested that gut bacteria are involved in sex steroid metabolism; however, the underlying mechanisms and bacterial taxa remain elusive. Denitrifying betaproteobacteria Thauera spp. are metabolically versatile and often distributed in the animal gut. Thauera sp. strain GDN1 is an unusual betaproteobacterium capable of catabolizing androgen under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. We administered C57BL/6 mice (aged 7 weeks) with strain GDN1 through oral gavage. The strain GDN1 administration caused a minor increase in the relative abundance of Thauera (≤0.1%); however, it has profound effects on the host physiology and gut bacterial community. The results of our ELISA assay and metabolite profile analysis indicated an approximately 50% reduction in serum androgen levels in the strain GDN1-administered male mice. Moreover, androgenic ring-cleaved metabolites were detected in the fecal extracts of the strain GDN1-administered mice. Furthermore, our RT - qPCR results revealed the expression of the androgen catabolism genes in the gut of the strain GDN1-administered mice. We found that the administered strain GDN1 regulated mouse serum androgen levels, possibly because it blocked androgen recycling through enterohepatic circulation. This study discovered that sex steroids serve as a carbon source of gut bacteria; moreover, host circulating androgen levels may be regulated by androgen-catabolizing gut bacteria. Our data thus indicate the possible applicability of androgen-catabolic gut bacteria as potent probiotics in alternative therapy of hyperandrogenism.

The cooperative interplay among inflammation, necroptosis and YAP pathway contributes to the folate deficiency-induced liver cells enlargement.

Change in cell size may bring in profound impact to cell function and survival, hence the integrity of the organs consisting of those cells. Nevertheless, how cell size is regulated remains incompletely understood. We used the fluorescent zebrafish transgenic line Tg-GGH/LR that displays inducible folate deficiency (FD) and hepatomegaly upon FD induction as in vivo model. We found that FD caused hepatocytes enlargement and increased liver stiffness, which could not be prevented by nucleotides supplementations. Both in vitro and in vivo studies indicated that RIPK3/MLKL-dependent necroptotic pathway and Hippo signaling interactively participated in this FD-induced hepatocytic enlargement in a dual chronological and cooperative manner. FD also induced hepatic inflammation, which convenes a dialog of positive feedback loop between necroptotic and Hippo pathways. The increased MMP13 expression in response to FD elevated TNFα level and further aggravated the hepatocyte enlargement. Meanwhile, F-actin was circumferentially re-allocated at the edge under cell membrane in response to FD. Our results substantiate the interplay among intracellular folate status, pathways regulation, inflammatory responses, actin cytoskeleton and cell volume control, which can be best observed with in vivo platform. Our data also support the use of this Tg-GGH/LR transgenic line for the mechanistical and therapeutic research for the pathologic conditions related to cell size alteration.

Identification of essential ß-oxidation genes and corresponding metabolites for oestrogen degradation by actinobacteria.

Steroidal oestrogens (C18 ) are contaminants receiving increasing attention due to their endocrine-disrupting activities at sub-nanomolar concentrations. Although oestrogens can be eliminated through photodegradation, microbial function is critical for removing oestrogens from ecosystems devoid of sunlight exposure including activated sludge, soils and aquatic sediments. Actinobacteria were found to be key oestrogen degraders in manure-contaminated soils and estuarine sediments. Previously, we used the actinobacterium Rhodococcus sp. strain B50 as a model microorganism to identify two oxygenase genes, aedA and aedB, involved in the activation and subsequent cleavage of the estrogenic A-ring respectively. However, genes responsible for the downstream degradation of oestrogen A/B-rings remained completely unknown. In this study, we employed tiered comparative transcriptomics, gene disruption experiments and mass spectrometry-based metabolite profile analysis to identify oestrogen catabolic genes. We observed the up-regulation of thiolase-encoding aedF and aedK in the transcriptome of strain B50 grown with oestrone. Consistently, two downstream oestrogenic metabolites, 5-oxo-4-norestrogenic acid (C17 ) and 2,3,4-trinorestrogenic acid (C15 ), were accumulated in aedF- and aedK-disrupted strain B50 cultures. Disruption of fadD3 [3aα-H-4α(3'-propanoate)-7aß-methylhexahydro-1,5-indanedione (HIP)-coenzyme A-ligase gene] in strain B50 resulted in apparent HIP accumulation in oestrone-fed cultures, indicating the essential role of fadD3 in actinobacterial oestrogen degradation. In addition, we detected a unique meta-cleavage product, 4,5-seco-estrogenic acid (C18 ), during actinobacterial oestrogen degradation. Differentiating the oestrogenic metabolite profile and degradation genes of actinobacteria and proteobacteria enables the cost-effective and time-saving identification of potential oestrogen degraders in various ecosystems through liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis and polymerase chain reaction-based functional assays.

The Incoherent Fluctuation of Folate Pools and Differential Regulation of Folate Enzymes Prioritize Nucleotide Supply in the Zebrafish Model Displaying Folate Deficiency-Induced Microphthalmia and Visual Defects.

OBJECTIVE: Congenital eye diseases are multi-factorial and usually cannot be cured. Therefore, proper preventive strategy and understanding the pathomechanism underlying these diseases become important. Deficiency in folate, a water-soluble vitamin B, has been associated with microphthalmia, a congenital eye disease characterized by abnormally small and malformed eyes. However, the causal-link and the underlying mechanism between folate and microphthalmia remain incompletely understood. METHODS: We examined the eye size, optomotor response, intracellular folate distribution, and the expression of folate-requiring enzymes in zebrafish larvae displaying folate deficiency (FD) and ocular defects. RESULTS: FD caused microphthalmia and impeded visual ability in zebrafish larvae, which were rescued by folate and dNTP supplementation. Cell cycle analysis revealed cell accumulation at S-phase and sub-G1 phase. Decreased cell proliferation and increased apoptosis were found in FD larvae during embryogenesis in a developmental timing-specific manner. Lowered methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (mthfr) expression and up-regulated methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase (NADP+-dependent)-1-like (mthfd1L) expression were found in FD larvae. Knocking-down mthfd1L expression worsened FD-induced ocular anomalies; whereas increasing mthfd1L expression provided a protective effect. 5-CH3-THF is the most sensitive folate pool, whose levels were the most significantly reduced in response to FD; whereas 10-CHO-THF levels were less affected. 5-CHO-THF is the most effective folate adduct for rescuing FD-induced microphthalmia and defective visual ability. CONCLUSION: FD impeded nucleotides formation, impaired cell proliferation and differentiation, caused apoptosis and interfered active vitamin A production, contributing to ocular defects. The developmental timing-specific and incoherent fluctuation among folate adducts and increased expression of mthfd1L in response to FD reflect the context-dependent regulation of folate-mediated one-carbon metabolism, endowing the larvae to prioritize the essential biochemical pathways for supporting the continuous growth in response to folate depletion.

Mechanistic and phylogenetic insights into actinobacteria-mediated oestrogen biodegradation in urban estuarine sediments.

Steroidal oestrogens are often accumulated in urban estuarine sediments worldwide at microgram per gram levels. These aromatic steroids have been classified as endocrine disruptors and group 1 carcinogens. Microbial degradation is a naturally occurring mechanism that mineralizes oestrogens in the biosphere; however, the corresponding genes in oestrogen-degrading actinobacteria remain unidentified. In this study, we identified a gene cluster encoding several putative oestrogen-degrading genes (aed; actinobacterial oestrogen degradation) in actinobacterium Rhodococcus sp. strain B50. Among them, the aedA and aedB genes involved in oestrogenic A-ring cleavage were identified through gene-disruption experiments. We demonstrated that actinobacterial oestrone 4-hydroxylase (AedA) is a cytochrome P450-type monooxygenase. We also detected the accumulation of two extracellular oestrogenic metabolites, including pyridinestrone acid (PEA) and 3aα-H-4α(3'-propanoate)-7aß-methylhexahydro-1,5-indanedione (HIP), in the oestrone-fed strain B50 cultures. Since actinobacterial aedB and proteobacterial edcB shared < 40% sequence identity, 4-hydroxyestrone 4,5-dioxygenase genes (namely aedB and edcB) could serve as a specific biomarker to differentiate the contribution of actinobacteria and proteobacteria in environmental oestrogen degradation. Therefore, 4-hydroxyestrone 4,5-dioxygenase genes and the extracellular metabolites PEA and HIP were used as biomarkers to investigate oestrogen biodegradation in an urban estuarine sediment. Interestingly, our data suggested that actinobacteria are active oestrogen degraders in the urban estuarine sediment.

A thrombomodulin-like gene is crucial to the collective migration of epibolic blastomeres during germ layer formation and organogenesis in zebrafish.

BACKGROUND: Thrombomodulin (TM), an integral membrane protein, has long been known for its anticoagulant activity. Recent studies showed that TM displays multifaceted activities, including the involvement in cell adhesion and collective cell migration in vitro. However, whether TM contributes similarly to these biological processes in vivo remains elusive. METHODS: We adapted zebrafish, a prominent animal model for studying molecular/cellular activity, embryonic development, diseases mechanism and drug discovery, to examine how TM functions in modulating cell migration during germ layer formation, a normal and crucial physiological process involving massive cell movement in the very early stages of life. In addition, an in vivo assay was developed to examine the anti-hemostatic activity of TM in zebrafish larva. RESULTS: We found that zebrafish TM-b, a zebrafish TM-like protein, was expressed mainly in vasculatures and displayed anti-hemostatic activity. Knocking-down TM-b led to malformation of multiple organs, including vessels, heart, blood cells and neural tissues. Delayed epiboly and incoherent movement of yolk syncytial layer were also observed in early TM-b morphants. Whole mount immunostaining revealed the co-localization of TM-b with both actin and microtubules in epibolic blastomeres. Single-cell tracking revealed impeded migration of blastomeres during epiboly in TM-b-deficient embryos. CONCLUSION: Our results showed that TM-b is crucial to the collective migration of blastomeres during germ layer formation. The structural and functional compatibility and conservation between zebrafish TM-b and mammalian TM support the properness of using zebrafish as an in vivo platform for studying the biological significance and medical use of TM.

Supplementation with 5-formyltetrahydrofolate alleviates ultraviolet B-inflicted oxidative damage in folate-deficient zebrafish.

Ultraviolet (UV) is an omnipresent environmental carcinogen transmitted by sunlight. Excessive UV irradiation has been correlated to an increased risk of skin cancers. UVB, the most mutagenic component among the three UV constituents, causes damage mainly through inducing DNA damage and oxidative stress. Therefore, strategies or nutrients that strengthen an individual's resistance to UV-inflicted harmful effects shall be beneficial. Folate is a water-soluble B vitamin essential for nucleotides biosynthesis, and also a strong biological antioxidant, hence a micronutrient with potential of modulating individual's vulnerability to UV exposure. In this study, we investigated the impact of folate status on UV sensitivity and the protective activity of folate supplementation using a zebrafish model. Elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS) level and morphological injury were observed in the larvae exposed to UVB, which were readily rescued by supplementing with folic acid, 5-formyltetrahydrofolate (5-CHO-THF) and N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC). The UVB-inflicted abnormalities and mortality were worsened in Tg(hsp:EGFP-γGH) larvae displaying folate deficiency. Intriguingly, only supplementation with 5-CHO-THF, as opposed to folic acid, offered significant and consistent protection against UVB-inflicted oxidative damage in the folate-deficient larvae. We concluded that the intrinsic folate status correlates with the vulnerability to UVB-induced damage in zebrafish larvae. In addition, 5-CHO-THF surpassed both folic acid and NAC in preventing UVB-inflicted oxidative stress and injury in our current experimental zebrafish model.

One crisis, diverse impacts-Tissue-specificity of folate deficiency-induced circulation defects in zebrafish larvae.

Folate (vitamin B9) is an essential nutrient required for cell survival, proliferation, differentiation and therefore embryogenesis. Folate deficiency has been associated with many diseases, including congenital heart diseases and megaloblastic anemia, yet the mechanisms underlying these remains elusive. Here, we examine the impact of folate deficiency on the development of the circulation system using a zebrafish transgenic line which displays inducible folate deficiency. Impaired hematopoiesis includes decreased hemoglobin levels, decreased erythrocyte number, increased erythrocyte size and aberrant c-myb expression pattern were observed in folate deficient embryos. Cardiac defects, including smaller chamber size, aberrant cardiac function and cmlc2 expression pattern, were also apparent in folate deficient embryos. Characterization of intracellular folate content in folate deficiency revealed a differential fluctuation among the different folate derivatives that carry a single carbon group at different oxidation levels. Rescue attempts by folic acid and nucleotides resulted in differential responses among affected tissues, suggesting that different pathomechanisms are involved in folate deficiency-induced anomalies in a tissue-specific manner. The results of the current study provide an explanation for the inconsistent outcome observed clinically in patients suffering from folate deficiency and/or receiving folate supplementation. This study also supports the use of this model for further research on the defective cardiogenesis and hematopoiesis caused by folate deficiency.

Folate deficiency-induced oxidative stress contributes to neuropathy in young and aged zebrafish--implication in neural tube defects and Alzheimer's diseases.

Folate is a nutrient essential for the development, function and regeneration of nervous systems. Folate deficiency has been linked to many neurological disorders including neural tube defects in fetus and Alzheimer's diseases in the elderly. However, the etiology underlying these folate deficiency-associated diseases is not completely understood. In this study, zebrafish transgenic lines with timing and duration-controllable folate deficiency were developed by ectopically overexpressing a recombinant EGFP-γ-glutamyl hydrolase (γGH). Impeded neural crest cell migration was observed in the transgenic embryos when folate deficiency was induced in early stages, leading to defective neural tube closure and hematopoiesis. Adding reduced folate or N-acetylcysteine reversed the phenotypic anomalies, supporting the causal link between the increased oxidative stress and the folate deficiency-induced abnormalities. When folate deficiency was induced in aged fish accumulation of beta-amyloid and phosphorylated Tau protein were found in the fish brain cryo-sections. Increased autophagy and accumulation of acidic autolysosome were apparent in folate deficient neuroblastoma cells, which were reversed by reduced folate or N-acetylcysteine supplementation. Decreased expression of cathepsin B, a lysosomal protease, was also observed in cells and tissue with folate deficiency. We concluded that folate deficiency-induced oxidative stress contributed to the folate deficiency-associated neuropathogenesis in both early and late stages of life.

Knocking down 10-Formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase increased oxidative stress and impeded zebrafish embryogenesis by obstructing morphogenetic movement.

BACKGROUND: Folate is an essential nutrient for cell survival and embryogenesis. 10-Formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase (FDH) is the most abundant folate enzyme in folate-mediated one-carbon metabolism. 10-Formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase converts 10-formyltetrahydrofolate to tetrahydrofolate and CO2, the only pathway responsible for formate oxidation in methanol intoxication. 10-Formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase has been considered a potential chemotherapeutic target because it was down-regulated in cancer cells. However, the normal physiological significance of 10-Formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase is not completely understood, hampering the development of therapeutic drug/regimen targeting 10-Formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase. METHODS: 10-Formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase expression in zebrafish embryos was knocked-down using morpholino oligonucleotides. The morphological and biochemical characteristics of fdh morphants were examined using specific dye staining and whole-mount in-situ hybridization. Embryonic folate contents were determined by HPLC. RESULTS: The expression of 10-formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase was consistent in whole embryos during early embryogenesis and became tissue-specific in later stages. Knocking-down fdh impeded morphogenetic movement and caused incorrect cardiac positioning, defective hematopoiesis, notochordmalformation and ultimate death of morphants. Obstructed F-actin polymerization and delayed epiboly were observed in fdh morphants. These abnormalities were reversed either by adding tetrahydrofolate or antioxidant or by co-injecting the mRNA encoding 10-formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase N-terminal domain, supporting the anti-oxidative activity of 10-formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase and the in vivo function of tetrahydrofolate conservation for 10-formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase N-terminal domain. CONCLUSIONS: 10-Formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase functioned in conserving the unstable tetrahydrofolate and contributing to the intracellular anti-oxidative capacity of embryos, which was crucial in promoting proper cell migration during embryogenesis. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE: These newly reported tetrahydrofolate conserving and anti-oxidative activities of 10-formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase shall be important for unraveling 10-formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase biological significance and the drug development targeting 10-formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase.

Ethanol-induced upregulation of 10-formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase helps relieve ethanol-induced oxidative stress.

Alcoholism induces folate deficiency and increases the risk for embryonic anomalies. However, the interplay between ethanol exposure and embryonic folate status remains unclear. To investigate how ethanol exposure affects embryonic folate status and one-carbon homeostasis, we incubated zebrafish embryos in ethanol and analyzed embryonic folate content and folate enzyme expression. Exposure to 2% ethanol did not change embryonic total folate content but increased the tetrahydrofolate level approximately 1.5-fold. The expression of 10-formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase (FDH), a potential intracellular tetrahydrofolate reservoir, was increased in both mRNA and protein levels. Overexpressing recombinant FDH in embryos alleviated the ethanol-induced oxidative stress in ethanol-exposed embryos. Further characterization of the zebrafish fdh promoter revealed that the -124/+40 promoter fragment was the minimal region required for transactivational activity. The results of site-directed mutagenesis and binding analysis revealed that Sp1 is involved in the basal level of expression of fdh but not in ethanol-induced upregulation of fdh. On the other hand, CEBPα was the protein that mediated the ethanol-induced upregulation of fdh, with an approximately 40-fold increase of fdh promoter activity when overexpressed in vitro. We concluded that upregulation of fdh involving CEBPα helps relieve embryonic oxidative stress induced by ethanol exposure.

Zebrafish larvae exposed to ginkgotoxin exhibit seizure-like behavior that is relieved by pyridoxal-5'-phosphate, GABA and anti-epileptic drugs.

The etiology of epilepsy is a very complicated, multifactorial process that is not completely understood. Therefore, the availability of epilepsy animal models induced by different mechanisms is crucial in advancing our knowledge and developing new therapeutic regimens for this disorder. Considering the advantages of zebrafish, we have developed a seizure model in zebrafish larvae using ginkgotoxin, a neurotoxin naturally occurring in Ginkgo biloba and hypothesized to inhibit the formation of the neurotransmitter γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). We found that a 2-hour exposure to ginkgotoxin induced a seizure-like behavior in zebrafish larvae. This seizure-like swimming pattern was alleviated by the addition of either pyridoxal-5'-phosphate (PLP) or GABA and responded quickly to the anti-convulsing activity of gabapentin and phenytoin, two commonly prescribed anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs). Unexpectedly, the ginkgotoxin-induced PLP depletion in our experimental setting did not affect the homeostasis of folate-mediated one-carbon metabolism, another metabolic pathway playing a crucial role in neural function that also relies on the availability of PLP. This ginkgotoxin-induced seizure behavior was also relieved by primidone, which had been tested on a pentylenetetrazole-induced zebrafish seizure model but failed to rescue the seizure phenotype, highlighting the potential use and complementarity of this ginkgotoxin-induced seizure model for AED development. Structural and morphological characterization showed that a 2-hour ginkgotoxin exposure did not cause appreciable changes in larval morphology and tissues development. In conclusion, our data suggests that this ginkgotoxin-induced seizure in zebrafish larvae could serve as an in vivo model for epileptic seizure research and potential AED screening.

Zebrafish Sp1-like protein is structurally and functionally comparable to human Sp1.

The transcription factor Sp1 is a regulator of TATA-less genes. It belongs to the Cys2-His2 zinc finger domain-containing family. A zebrafish cDNA encoding a peptide homologous to mammalian Sp1 was cloned and inserted into a pET43.1a vector and expressed in Escherichia coli Rosetta (DE3) cells as a Nus-His-tag fusion protein. After induction with isopropyl thiogalactoside, the protein was purified with a Ni-Sepharose column, and approximately 5-8 mg of pure protein was obtained per liter of culture. The primary sequence and the predicted partial tertiary structure of the potential recombinant zebrafish Sp1 protein are similar to those of human Sp1. The DNA affinity precipitation assay and dual-luciferase promoter activity assay further confirm the nature of the recombinant zebrafish Sp1 protein as a transcription factor. Our results show that zebrafish Sp1-like protein is structurally and functionally comparable to human Sp1.