Bisphenol A disturbed the lipid metabolism mediated by sterol regulatory element binding protein 1 in rare minnow Gobiocypris rarus.

Bisphenol A (BPA), a representative endocrine disrupting compound, exists ubiquitously in the aquatic environment. Several studies on fish have validated the role of BPA in the lipid metabolism. However, the action mechanisms of BPA on lipid metabolism have been little studied. To clarify how BPA regulates lipid metabolism, Gobiocypris rarus were exposed to 15 μg/L BPA for 3 and 6 weeks. Results showed that BPA altered lipid content by regulating some metabolism-related genes. The BPA's inhibiting effect on fatty acid β-oxidation might be stronger than on lipid synthesis. BPA disturbed the expression of acaca (acetyl-CoA carboxylase), fasn (fatty acid synthase) and cpt1α (carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1α) by altering the sterol regulatory element binding protein 1 (SREBP-1) binding to their sterol regulatory elements (SREs). Our result also revealed that DNA methylation in the 5' flanking regions of cpt1α could perturb the SREBP-1 binding adjacent to its SRE in females under BPA exposure. Besides, BPA exposure led to gender-specific effect on fatty acid β-oxidation in G. rarus. This will contribute to our understanding of the regulation mechanisms of BPA on lipid metabolism in fish.