Grupo de Biología y Toxicología Ambiental, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, UNED, Madrid, Spain.
Laboratorio de Ecotoxicología, Departamento de Medio Ambiente, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria, INIA, Madrid, Spain.
PLoS One. 2018 Feb 21;13(2):e0193387. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0193387. eCollection 2018.
Bisphenol S (BPS) is an industrial alternative to the endocrine disruptor bisphenol A (BPA), and can be found in many products labeled "BPA-free". Its use has grown in recent years, and presently it is considered a ubiquitous emerging pollutant. To date there is a lack of information on the effects of BPS on invertebrates, although they represent more than 95% of known species in the animal kingdom and are crucial for the structure and proper function of ecosystems. In this study, real-time RT-PCR was used to determine the early detrimental effects of BPS on the transcriptional rate of genes in the model species Chironomus riparius, specifically those related to the ecdysone pathway (EcR, ERR, E74, Vtg, cyp18a1) crucial for insect development and metamorphosis, stress and biotransformation mechanisms (hsp70, hsp40, cyp4g, GPx, GSTd3) that regulate adaptive responses and determine survival, and ribosome biogenesis (its2, rpL4, rpL13) which is essential for protein synthesis and homeostasis. While 24-hour exposure to 0.5, 5, 50, and 500 μg/L BPS had no effect on larval survival, almost all the studied genes were upregulated following a non-monotonic dose-response curve. Genes with the greatest increases in transcriptional activity (fold change relative to control) were EcR (3.8), ERR (2), E74 (2.4), cyp18a1 (2.5), hsp70 (1.7), hsp40 (2.5), cyp4g (6.4), GPx (1.8), and GST (2.1), while others including Vtg, GAPDH, and selected ribosomal genes remained stable. We also measured the transcriptional activity of these genes 24 hours after BPS withdrawal and a general downregulation compared to controls was observed, though not significant in most cases. Our findings showed that BPS exposure altered the transcriptional profile of these genes, which may have consequences for the hormone system and several metabolic pathways. Although further research is needed to elucidate its mode of action, these results raise new concerns about the safety of BPA alternatives.
双酚 S（BPS）是内分泌干扰物双酚 A（BPA）的工业替代品，可在许多标有“无 BPA”的产品中找到。近年来，它的使用量有所增加，目前被认为是一种普遍存在的新兴污染物。迄今为止，关于 BPS 对无脊椎动物的影响的信息还很缺乏，尽管它们占动物王国已知物种的 95%以上，对生态系统的结构和正常功能至关重要。在这项研究中，实时 RT-PCR 用于确定 BPS 对模式物种摇蚊 Chironomus riparius 基因转录率的早期有害影响，特别是与昆虫发育和变态、应激和生物转化机制（调节适应反应并决定生存的 hsp70、hsp40、cyp4g、GPx、GSTD3）以及核糖体生物发生（其 2、rpL4、rpL13）相关的基因，这些基因对于蛋白质合成和体内平衡至关重要。虽然 24 小时暴露于 0.5、5、50 和 500μg/L 的 BPS 对幼虫存活率没有影响，但几乎所有研究的基因都遵循非单调剂量反应曲线而上调。转录活性增加最大的基因（相对于对照的倍数变化）为 EcR（3.8）、ERR（2）、E74（2.4）、cyp18a1（2.5）、hsp70（1.7）、hsp40（2.5）、cyp4g（6.4）、GPx（1.8）和 GST（2.1），而其他基因如 Vtg、GAPDH 和选定的核糖体基因则保持稳定。我们还测量了 BPS 去除后 24 小时这些基因的转录活性，与对照相比观察到普遍下调，但在大多数情况下并不显著。我们的研究结果表明，BPS 暴露改变了这些基因的转录谱，这可能对激素系统和几种代谢途径产生影响。尽管需要进一步研究来阐明其作用模式，但这些结果引发了对 BPA 替代品安全性的新关注。
