PMID- 28528409
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20170816
LR  - 20181202
IS  - 1432-0703 (Electronic)
IS  - 0090-4341 (Linking)
VI  - 73
IP  - 2
DP  - 2017 Aug
TI  - Polychlorinated Biphenyl-Related Alterations of the Expression of Essential Genes 
      in Harbour Seals (Phoca vitulina) from Coastal Sites in Canada and the United 
      States.
PG  - 310-321
LID - 10.1007/s00244-016-0362-9 [doi]
AB  - As long-lived marine mammals found throughout the temperate coastal waters of the 
      North Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) have become an 
      invaluable sentinel of food-web contamination. Their relatively high trophic 
      position predisposes harbour seals to the accumulation of harmful levels of 
      persistent organic pollutants (POPs). We obtained skin/blubber biopsy samples 
      from live-captured young harbour seals from various sites in the northeastern 
      Pacific (British Columbia, Canada, and Washington State, USA) as well as the 
      northwestern Atlantic (Newfoundland and Quebec, Canada). We developed harbour 
      seal-specific primers to investigate the potential impact of POP exposure on the 
      expression of eight important genes. We found correlations between the blubber 
      mRNA levels of three of our eight target genes and the dominant persistent 
      organic pollutant in seals [polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)] including estrogen 
      receptor alpha (Esr1: r (2) = 0.12, p = 0.038), thyroid hormone receptor alpha 
      (Thra: r (2) = 0.16; p = 0.028), and glucocorticoid receptor (Nr3c1: r 
      (2) = 0.12; p = 0.049). Age, sex, weight, and length were not confounding factors 
      on the expression of genes. Although the population-level consequences are 
      unclear, our results suggest that PCBs are associated with alterations of the 
      expression of genes responsible for aspects of metabolism, growth and 
      development, and immune function. Collectively, these results provide additional 
      support for the use of harbour seals as indicators of coastal food-web 
      contamination.
FAU - Noel, Marie
AU  - Noel M
AD  - Ocean Pollution Research Program, Coastal Ocean Research Institute, Vancouver 
      Aquarium Marine Science Centre, PO Box 3232, Vancouver, BC, V6B 3X8, Canada. 
      marie.noel@vanaqua.org.
FAU - Dangerfield, Neil
AU  - Dangerfield N
AD  - Institute of Ocean Sciences, Fisheries and Oceans, PO Box 6000, Sidney, BC, V8L 
      4B2, Canada.
FAU - Jeffries, Steve
AU  - Jeffries S
AD  - Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Lakewood, WA, 98498, USA.
FAU - Lambourn, Dyanna
AU  - Lambourn D
AD  - Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Lakewood, WA, 98498, USA.
FAU - Lance, Monique
AU  - Lance M
AD  - Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Lakewood, WA, 98498, USA.
FAU - Helbing, Caren
AU  - Helbing C
AD  - Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Victoria, Victoria, 
      BC, V8W 3P6, Canada.
FAU - Lebeuf, Michel
AU  - Lebeuf M
AD  - Institut Maurice-Lamontagne, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Mont-Joli, QC, G5H 3Z4, 
      Canada.
FAU - Ross, Peter S
AU  - Ross PS
AD  - Ocean Pollution Research Program, Coastal Ocean Research Institute, Vancouver 
      Aquarium Marine Science Centre, PO Box 3232, Vancouver, BC, V6B 3X8, Canada.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20170520
PL  - United States
TA  - Arch Environ Contam Toxicol
JT  - Archives of environmental contamination and toxicology
JID - 0357245
RN  - DFC2HB4I0K (Polychlorinated Biphenyls)
SB  - IM
MH  - Adipose Tissue/metabolism
MH  - Animals
MH  - Atlantic Ocean
MH  - British Columbia
MH  - *Environmental Monitoring
MH  - Female
MH  - Food Chain
MH  - Gene Expression/*drug effects
MH  - Genes, Essential/*physiology
MH  - Male
MH  - Pacific Ocean
MH  - Phoca/*physiology
MH  - Polychlorinated Biphenyls/metabolism/*toxicity
MH  - Quebec
MH  - Washington
EDAT- 2017/05/22 06:00
MHDA- 2017/08/17 06:00
CRDT- 2017/05/22 06:00
PHST- 2016/06/23 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2016/11/16 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2017/05/22 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2017/08/17 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2017/05/22 06:00 [entrez]
AID - 10.1007/s00244-016-0362-9 [pii]
AID - 10.1007/s00244-016-0362-9 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Arch Environ Contam Toxicol. 2017 Aug;73(2):310-321. doi: 
      10.1007/s00244-016-0362-9. Epub 2017 May 20.